Post office worker admits theft of £83k

A post office assistant faces jail after admitting stealing £83,000 from the Black Country branch where she worked.

Neelam Hussain, aged 23, was expected to go on trial yesterday but pleaded guilty at the eleventh hour.

The trusted worker, of Village Road, Aston, admitted taking the cash from the post office branch in West Bromwich's Farley Centre during a five-month spell in 2009. It is understood that Hussain had worked for Post Office Ltd for four years and auditors uncovered the theft.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that money belonging to the post office had been transferred into bank accounts between July and November 2009.

During the brief hearing, Hussain spoke only to confirm her guilty plea, which was entered after negotiations between prosecutors and her solicitors.

She had originally been charged with stealing more than £100,000 from the post office but it was later revised.

The court hearing had got off to a faltering start yesterday morning when officials received a fax from City Hospital in Birmingham minutes before the trial had been due to start saying Hussain had attended the hospital for treatment.

However, Recorder Nigel Baker angrily summoned Hussain to court and the hearing went ahead yesterday afternoon.

The judge told Hussain: "You have pleaded guilty to a serious offence. I have ordered a pre-sentence report to enable the next judge to know about your background and your family circumstances."

Hussain was granted bail but ordered to remain living at home in Aston and to report to her solicitors three times each week. She must also surrender her passport.

Hussain's brother Sham-hir Hussain, 22, of Witton Road, Aston, who also worked in the post office, was cleared of transferring criminal property after prosecutors agreed to drop the matter.

The judge told him: "Your charges have been left on file and you should expect to hear no more about them."