Lancaster woman spared jail after stealing 8,000 Royal Mail packages worth £6,000

Laura Whalley, 38, of Pollard Place, was sentenced to 12 weeks’ prison suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £2,903 in compensation when she appeared before Preston magistrates.

She stole 8,029 postal packets – worth £6,000 – containing greetings cards, gift cards, vouchers and money between December 2019 and June 2020 while working in Kendal.

The sentence was suspended because of the defendant’s timely guilty plea, good character and Covid regime in prison.

Whalley pleaded guilty to stealing 8,029 postal packets, containing greetings cards, gift cards, vouchers and money totalling ‘approximately £6,000 belonging to Royal Mail Group Limited’.

She also pleaded guilty to stealing two postal packets worth £25 on May 11, 2020 and to stealing two more, again worth £25, on June 18, 2020.

A Royal Mail spokesman said they would not be commenting on the case as it had now been resolved.