Postie who dumped junk mail spared jail ‘by skin of his teeth’
DAD-OF-ONE DITCHED LETTERS IN RUBBISH CHUTES AT FLATS
AN EX-POSTMAN found to have dumped piles of junk mail destined for people’s homes – after being accused of stealing letters – was told in court it was not for him to ‘decide what was important and what wasn’t.’
Wayne Carr, 36, was found to be the culprit when scores of spam letters advertising bank services, retail firms and travel companies were returned undelivered.
It later emerged the father-of-one had been throwing away junk mail down the rubbish chutes of apartment blocks while delivering letters.
Carr claimed a colleague he worked with was so slow he would dump letters to help him complete their rounds more efficiently. Inquiries revealed no items were stolen from the letters.
At Manchester Crown Court, Carr, from Eccles, Salford – who has since resigned – admitted theft of postal packets.
He was orders to complete 150 hours unpaid work under a 12-month community order. Carr now works for a logistics firm.
Judge Martin Rudland told him: “You were given the task of delivering mail properly and it wasn’t for you to decide what was important and what wasn’t.
“I’m not able to say if it was all junk mail, but the commercial organisations have contracts with the Royal Mail to do their commercial output. Some of us are happy to receive it and the Royal Mail gets money for doing it.
“But it is not for you to judge what is important and what isn’t. You didn’t deliver this mail and you disposed of it to enable you to shorten your round or help your slow colleague and to enable you to deal with personal matters which is not a concern of your workplace. You have got out of jail by the skin of your teeth. If you had actually stolen I would have had no other choice.”
The court heard Carr started at the Post Office in July last year, despite losing his previous job at an office supplies company, where he diverted £95,000-worth orders for printer toner cartridges to the homes of friends before the items were put up for sale on eBay for a total of £20,000.
He was given two years jail, suspended for two years, after admitting fraud last January.
Angela Fitzgerald, prosecuting for the Royal Mail, told the court: ‘’On four occasions between May 24 and June 13, 2018, piles of post were received and returned undelivered, it was swiftly identified that Mr Carr was the person who should have delivered them.
“He made admissions to getting rid of them, and was putting them in the rubbish chutes in flats. There was no theft from the mail and no evidence of anything stolen, some letters were in an open condition but this could be due to how they were treated.”
The court heard the Royal Mail spent almost £4,000 investigating the case and prosecuting Carr.
Colin Buckle, defending, said his client’s family had been blighted by cancer. Mr Buckle said: “Speaking frankly, I can’t remember when I last saw a case of this type. He is an intelligent and articulate family man whose wife works as a scientist at a hospital, in the donor unit. But he and his family have been blighted throughout their lives with cancer. His father died of cancer, his brother died of cancer, his mother had cancer and he himself has had it three times. He has effectively been opting out of life and living with depression and anxiety. He has a two-year-old son who also now has a 50 per cent chance of getting it.”
He added: “His focus was so clearly upon his family that he has little regard for anything else. The defendant worked with another postman and they would work a round together. If he finished first he had to wait for the other postman. He was with someone who couldn’t drive and worked slowly. He got rid of some of his own mail to help the other postman.
“He discarded his own mail to free himself up.”