A Dundee postman who stole postal packets was sentenced to 100 hours of unpaid work at Forfar Sheriff Court.
George Cumming, of South Baffin Street, previously admitted stealing mail between March 31 and April 1 this year at Rattray Street in Monifieth and the Dundee East Delivery Office at Ivory Place.
The 56-year-old was employed as a postal worker through an agency at the time of the incident and undertook deliveries in Dundee and Angus.
The court previously heard the crime was uncovered when a resident of Rattray Street found three packets in their rubbish bin, two of which appeared to have been opened. Police were notified, as well as the postal
investigations department. The court heard it quickly became apparent the items were part of Cumming’s round and he was brought in for interview on April 9.
He admitted opening two greetings cards and said he had been looking for money, but had not found any. However, one of the senders said that there was £10 in one of the cards, which had been intended for a child.
He was not employed again as a postman after the offence came to light.
The case was previously deferred for criminal justice background reports, which were available to the court.
Defence agent Brian Bell told the court yesterday: “He took the £10. He accepts the seriousness of the case.
“The reports indicate that he is embarrassed and ashamed. He is a 56-year-old man who only has one previous conviction for a road traffic matter.
“At the time of the offence he was on a zero-hours contract with an agency. Some weeks he worked 50 hours a week, some weeks there was no work at all but he doesn’t use this as an excuse. He recognises the stupidity of his behaviour.”
Sheriff Gregor Murray imposed a community payback order as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.
He said: “People expect items that are trusted to the Royal Mail to be delivered in the appropriate way. You breached this trust.
“You have no analogous convictions and the number of packages involved is small so I think there is an alternative to custody, which is a community payback order of 100 hours. It would have been a lot more if it had been more than three packages.”
Cumming was given one year to complete the order.