Black Country postman who opened and kept letters behind his settee avoids jail

Craig Congrave, who worked from the Great Barr delivery office, collected 56 letters between April 2011 and February 2013, 14 of which had been opened, Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard.

Police found the haul in two Royal Mail packages stashed behind a living room sofa when they were executing a drugs raid at his house in Tottenham Crescent, Kingstanding, on January 26.

The court heard Congrave, who had worked for the Royal Mail for seven and a half years at the time of the offence, was suspended from work the day after the incident and never returned.

Mr John Dove, prosecuting on behalf of the Royal Mail, said when postal service investigators examined the letters seized from Congrave's house they found a mixture of first and second class mail.

He said: "The items included hospital appointment cards, theatre tickets, a cheque book, wage slips and greetings cards. The addressees would have been inconvenienced to a considerable degree by not receiving their mail."

Congrave had denied intentionally delaying the delivery of postal packets or mailbags, but was found guilty after a trial in October. During the trial he had told the court he suspected his ex-partner may have opened 14 of the letters found at his home.

Mr Dove added: "Not to deliver post was a breach of trust on his part. Conduct of this kind generally tarnishes the reputation of the Royal Mail as a whole."

Miss Kerendeep Garcha, defending, said 28-year-old Congrave had not intentionally delayed the posting of the letters.

"The fact that most of the items were unopened suggests he did not do this deliberately," she said. "He has effectively been punished by losing over seven years of service with the Royal Mail."

Congrave, who now works as a fitter and earns £250 per week, was given a six month prison sentence suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12 month supervision order and pay costs of £1,000 plus an £80 victim surcharge.

Chair of the bench Mr Roger Smith told the court: "He recognises his behaviour was a deep betrayal of trust to the public with whom he was trusted to deliver the mail."

Speaking to the Express & Star after sentence was passed, Mr Dove said: "The Royal Mail regards very seriously any offences by his employees, particularly those that are entrusted to deliver the post.

"Under no circumstances should they be taking mail home. I would hope sentences like this will deter such behaviour."