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A postman hid 12 sacks of mail, including some 4,000 letters and parcels, in his loft. Jason Cooper admitted to opening some of the parcels but said he did not remove any of the contents.
Opened parcels were found scattered across the eaves of the loft when police raided his home in 2022. Cooper, who worked across Hartlepool and Stockton areas, claimed he had “too much to deliver”, and was overworked.
The dad-of-three faced Teesside Crown Court for sentencing on Monday, October 7. Cooper, 30, had previously entered a guilty plea for delaying the delivery of mail and opening mail from 2017 to 2022, just before he was due to stand trial.
The court was told that in 2022, a workman who was called out to Cooper’s address, saw the sacks of mail in his loft. The man took photos before asking Cooper about what he had seen. Cooper told the workman that he “didn’t know anything about it” before asking, “should I get rid of it?”
Cooper failed to deliver some 4,000 items, including letters, parcels, and leaflets, among them 613 “door-to-door” items which the Post Office receives additional money to deliver. Cooper would have been paid extra for the delivery of these, reports Teesside Live.
The Middlesbrough court heard that the undelivered mail, now covered in dust, had been in the loft for eight months. The neglected post had been sent between 2020 and 2021. After moving from Hartlepool to Billingham, Cooper had taken the undelivered sacks with him.
The workman reported what he had seen to the police, and they searched Cooper’s home. Although some parcels and letters had been opened, bank cards were left untouched, inside.
When he was arrested and interviewed by the police, Cooper said he had been given “too many bags to deliver”. He had received warnings about his poor time-keeping and for not scanning letters while he was employed as a postman from 2017 to 2022. He was sacked after he was arrested.
The court was told the Post Office had to pay out compensation for the undelivered items after they sparked customer complaints. Defending, Shaun Dryden said that Cooper now cares for his three children, the youngest of whom is a toddler, and his wife goes out to work. Mr Dryden said: “He lost his job as a result of this and it’s unlikely he will trouble the court again.”
Judge Richard Thomas told Cooper: “The days are not long gone, where a postman who stole one letter – let alone hundreds or thousands, would go to prison, full stop. In 2024, sentencing guidelines changed and it would be damaging to your family and those young children, if I send you down.
“You were employed as a postman. Seemingly you weren’t the best of workers. You knew full well that you were trusted by the public and your employers to deliver the mail.”
Cooper, of The Green in Billingham, was handed a 12-month prison term, suspended for two years. He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. “You may be breathing a sigh of relief and thinking that’s it,” the judge continued, “but if you get into any trouble in the next two years – a fight in the pub or anything – this sentence will come into effect.”
