Letter-theft postie in suspended jail term

Other items of mail were kept in a downstairs cloakroom in the house in Brierley Hill, some of which dated back to 2008.

Postman Jamie Paterson was suspended from work at the Brierley Hill office after Royal Mail investigators were tipped off. Post was also discovered at Paterson's home in Tipton. Judge Amjad Nawaz, sitting at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, heard that Paterson committed a "serious breach of trust" by failing to deliver the mail.

The judge criticised Paterson for causing "severe inconvenience" to residents who may have been denied receiving personal letters and invitations as well as bank cards and statements.

Paterson was also found to have kept 23 Lovefilm DVD packages, including two which had been opened and were missing the discs. Paterson, aged 38, of Sedgley Road East, Tipton, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to charges of delaying post and theft.

Judge Nawaz sentenced Paterson to six months imprisonment, suspended for 15 months to run concurrent on the charges. He will also be subject to supervision by the probation service and ordered to do 80 hours unpaid work.

Mr John Dove, prosecuting on behalf of Royal Mail, said Paterson kept hold 486 addressed letters and 161 door-to-door leaflets during two stints as a postman in Brierley Hill and Kidderminster.

Royal Mail received a call from Paterson's ex-partner on October 11 last year saying she had found Royal Mail sacks in her garage which she rarely entered due to a phobia of spiders, Mr Dove told the court.

Royal Mail investigators then found further postal packets under a pile of coats in the cloakroom of the home. Another 241 postal packets were discovered at Paterson's home as police were called to investigate.

Miss Sarah Allen, defending, said Paterson had been diagnosed with depression in 2005. She said: "The DVDs had only been taken to cheer himself up. He knows that it was a serious breach of trust."