Postman who hated early starts is jailed for stashing 6,000 letters

A postman who hid almost 6,000 letters and parcels because he could not be bothered to get up to deliver them has been jailed.

When Nicholas Moore, 28, had slept in and was running late he would stash the post in the boot of his car, his mother's attic and in a basement at a shop where he also worked.

A shop worker spotted shredded letters, including bank cards, cheques and theatre tickets. Moore, from Latchingdon, Essex, admitted he had been hiding post for five months.

He was jailed for four months yesterday at Chelmsford crown court after admitting theft of 5,877 letters and parcels and destroying 100 between August 2007 and January last year.

Anthony Lenaghan, prosecuting on behalf of Royal Mail, said Moore made "full and frank admissions".

He said Moore told him, "I hated getting up and started taking a bundle of mail every now and again. If I wanted to get home I took a bag of mail and put in the boot of my car. I panicked and did not know what to do. I hid it in my parents' loft without their knowledge. I dug myself in a really deep hole".

Moore left Royal Mail to work at a Tottenham Hotspur shop in Chelmsford. When his mother was planning to clear out the loft he moved the post to the store.

Sentencing Moore, Recorder David Holborn said: "This is not the classic case of a Royal Mail worker stealing for gain."

Royal Mail said: "Royal Mail has a zero tolerance approach to dishonesty."