West Bromwich postmistress jailed over £83,000 theft

A former Black Country postmistress has been jailed for 21 months for stealing £83,000 from the office she managed.

Neelam Hussain, aged 23, syphoned off the money into a bogus account while in day-to-day charge of the post office in West Bromwich's Farley Centre where she had worked for five years, a judge heard. She claimed she used the money to pay the hospital bills of her mother-in-law in Pakistan.

An audit in November 2009 at the post office revealed a £101,617 shortfall in the books and uncovered a "phantom" stock unit into which five payments totalling £83,000 had been made between October 16 and November 5, 2009.

Hussain tried to cover her tracks on the day of the audit by borrowing a cheque from a workmate, filling it out for £85,000 and putting it in a drawer.

When that ruse failed she accused another member of staff who she claimed had "fitted her up," before admitting guilt on the day her trial was due to start.

Hussain, of Village Road, Aston, Birmingham, admitted theft at an earlier hearing and was sentenced yesterday.