Kendal Royal Mail employee who stole more than 8,000 postal packets is sentenced

The documents state that Ms Whalley committed a ‘breach of trust’ and that there was ‘no regard for the recipients of the items’.

She has been ordered to pay £2,903 in compensation and was given a suspended prison sentence.

Nigel Nelson, one of the many people who contacted the Gazette last year to report post going astray, believed the sentence should have been tougher.

“I don’t think the sentence is enough. It maybe should have been custodial because theft is theft,” he said.

“She stole to the value of £6,000, but she only has to pay £3,000 back. How does that work?

“If I go into a bank and rob £10,000, when I get caught I only have to give them £5,000?”

Mr Nelson, of Kendal, who had birthday cards arrive that had been tampered with and had money sent to others go astray, said the news offered some ‘closure’ but felt the Royal Mail needed ‘to do more checks on people’.

MP Tim Farron said he was pleased the saga had finally been brought to a conclusion and hoped that trust in the Royal Mail had not been damaged by it.

Pam Adamson, also of Kendal, was another person affected by mail interference.

A card arrived for her birthday without the 50 euros’ holiday money her friend said it was supposed to have contained.

“I’m glad that somebody was convicted,” she said.

“That gives some closure I suppose even though they didn’t get a custodial sentence.

“In an ideal world I’d like my money back, but I doubt that that will happen.

“I don’t know the woman’s circumstances – maybe the judge took things into account?

Ms Whalley, of Pollard Place in Lancaster, pleaded guilty to the charge that, over a period of five-and-a-half months, she stole 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.

For the charges, she was given a total prison sentence of 12 weeks to be suspended for 12 months.

Court documents state that this punishment was handed out on account of the seriousness of the offence.

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

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We won’t be commenting any further on the case itself as it has been resolved.”

At the time of the incident a spokesman said: “The security of our customers’ mail is of paramount importance to Royal Mail. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this incident.

“​Royal Mail has a zero-tolerance approach to any dishonesty.

“This stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women who do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely.

“Royal Mail will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust.”