Thieving postman jailed

6:56pm Tuesday 19th August 2008

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A postman has been jailed after being caught stealing cash from birthday and Christmas cards.

Magistrates told Stuart Crayford, 38, of Winchester Way, Wantage, he was guilty of a serious breach of trust.

Crayford admitted stealing between £400 to £500 from greetings cards. Burned envelopes were found at his home.

Didcot Magistrates' Court heard that he was caught after a Royal Mail 'sting' operation earlier this year.

Crayford admitted three counts of theft - including 95 greetings cards - and one count of intending to delay 3,503 postal items.

He was sentenced to a total of eight months in prison.

Jailing him, magistrates' chairman Jane Moreton said: "The fact was that the greetings cards were mainly going to children, which we feel made it a very unpleasant crime."

Speaking after the case today, Royal Mail spokesman Tom Prendergast stressed that the vast majority of postal workers were honest and hardworking.

He added "We have a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty, and that stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely.

"We will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust.

"Royal Mail customers should be confident in our services and systems, but where we are alerted to problems, either through our own stringent checks or from information supplied by our customers, we take decisive action to investigate."

All the incidents happened while the married father worked at Wantage delivery office, in Church Street, between March 2007 and April 2008.

Emma Thacker, prosecuting, told the court because Crayford never stole postal packets from his own round, ten colleagues were put under suspicion for missing mail.

He was caught after six packages, some containing £5 notes and DVDs, were put in bundles he dealt with - but were never delivered.

Ms Thacker said when Royal Mail investigators searched Crayford's home, carrier bags full of postal items were found hidden in his garage, shed and downstairs toilet. Four of the specially-placed packages were also found in his vehicle.

Opened packets were found in his recycling bin and burned remains of undelivered post were discovered strewn in a flower bed.

A ruby solitaire ring, worth £194, was also found.

Ms Thacker said: "There were clearly a lot of postal packages and a lot of the packages were cards, children's cards, which were specifically targeted as they were likely to contain money."

Kate MacNab, defending, said Crayford was in financial difficulties and had let temptation get the better of him.

One Wantage resident who was affected by Crayford's dishonesty criticised the sentence.

Widower Ray Reynolds, 77, was frequently forced to ask solicitors to resend mail to his Springfield Road house because it went missing - adding to his bill for legal services.

He said: "He used to say: 'Having trouble with your post?' when it was him doing it all the time.

"His sentence isn't enough."