A postman from Wolverhampton who opened letters and kept undelivered mail stashed away in his kitchen drawer has been ordered to carry out unpaid work and pay £600.

Deon McFarlane, who no longer works for Royal Mail, was spotted opening a bank letter during one of his rounds, Wolverhampton Magistrates Court heard.
McFarlane was found guilty of theft and also delaying postal packets after a trial last week.

Maggie Meakin, prosecuting at magistrates court where McFarlane was sentenced yesterday, said he was spotted by a member of the public opening a letter from banking firm MBNA during one of his rounds.

“The male was seen to place the letter inside a waste paper bin,” she said. “The witness went to the bin and retrieved the letter addressed to MBNA. Part of the letter had been scratched off where the pin number would be.”

Mrs Meakin told the court McFarlane was then arrested on December 21 after the witness tipped off the police.

McFarlane, aged 33, of Junction Road, Stow Heath, was identified by the woman during an identity parade.

His home was searched and items of undelivered mail were found in his kitchen draw. Some of the letters had been delayed by up to three months. “He said he had put the mail in the drawer and forgotten to deliver it,” Mrs Meakin added. During the trial, the court heard the post contained shopping vouchers and mobile phone Sim cards, some of which had been opened by the father-of-two, who was based at the Sun Street delivery office in the city.

Mrs Nishi Kumar, defending, said: “He is out of employment and only gets £110 Job Seekers Allowance.

“He has got two young children.

“Whatever the court imposes he will comply with.”

District Judge Michael Wheeler handed father-of-two McFarlane a 12-month community order, with 150 hours of unpaid work and ordered him to pay costs of £600.