Posted on 02/22/2003 1:07:57 PM PST by vannrox
Lazy postman George Lamb pocketed more than 17,000 letters, parcels and birthday cards because he could not be bothered to deliver them.
Lamb of Avison Court, Fenham, Newcastle, stole cash, vouchers and presents while on his round in Fenham and was only caught after police trapped him through a fake package.
He took nearly 17,500 parcels, letters, cards and packages, removing cash from 1,688 greetings cards, keeping hold of 7,331 door-to-door promotional packages and charity appeals, and storing 8,440 parcels in his flat in Newcastle.
Post Office staff became suspicious after complaints from angry residents in the Fenham area who were waiting for post.
At Newcastle Magistrates' Court, Lamb pleaded guilty to intentionally delaying postal packets and stealing postal packets. He was given a 180-hour community rehabilitation order and was ordered to pay £483.86 compensation with £100 costs.
Deborah Dixon, prosecuting, said: "When he was quizzed by his boss he said he had five or six items in his home and some in his car but refused to let staff search his house.
"When police went in they found thousands of parcels. He said he had been delaying the mail for six to eight weeks and had intended to eventually deliver everything.
"He admitted taking money from birthday cards and said he had spent it." A trap was set for the 22-year-old after a dummy package, containing a watch, was posted to an address on his round.
When the parcel failed to arrive bosses challenged him and Lamb admitted he had been stealing mail for 14 months.
Police searched his home and discovered a stash of postbags, parcels and letters as well as the missing watch from the dummy package.
Ms Dixon told the court: "He said he'd first taken the mail one day because he couldn't be bothered to deliver it and thought he'd deliver it the next day. But the following day he had the same amount, so he didn't have time."
Defence solicitor Lewis Pearson said Lamb had "just got himself into a situation which he couldn't get himself out of".
Is this part of the problems in Britain today, very light sentences? Community service and a $583.86 fine for stealing mail for 14 months?
Kill Him.
He has no excuse.
Mr. Lamb has a cushy, guaranteed job for the rest of his life.. good pension, benefits out the whazoo and he get's all the phony holidays off.
If that's not enough motivation to do his job properly then I say put him in front of a firing squad.
Not only for betraying our trust, but for insulting our intelligence like this.
I am serious. It wouldn't bother me even a little bit if this were a capital crime..
At a minimum, a crack addict who breaks the law is addicted to a powerful substance and is sometimes out of his mind. A poor person who steals for food can at least claim he's starving.. An illegal alien can at least claim he broke the law to escape poverty.
So what excuse does George Lamb have again? In context, his would seem to be the weakest excuse of them all.
This kind of sloppy journalism really pisses me off. The postman is not "lazy." Nor did he not deliver this mail because he "could not be bothered to deliver it."
He is a professional thief who has, with great effort and energy, stolen an enormous amount of mail and packages, as well as rifling through greeting cards to obtain cash. This is not the actions of a "lazy" mailman but of a hardened criminal.
The reporter who put together this piece should be terminated from her job. She is obviously incompetent - and perhaps a bit lazy.
£483.86 compensation
So the average birthday/Christmas gift with a card in England is only about 29P?
Cheapskates.
Haha..I believe you.
We stayed for some time in a nice little town in West Sussex. Upon going to mail a bunch of postcards, the crone in the Post Office volunteered to put the stamps on them for us..later...as she greedily began reading them in front of us.
No shame. But honest, anyway.
We still chuckle about it.
Well, it was a small town, and I suppose the job was boring.
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