A UK postman that stole £5,000 worth of mail from his route in order to gamble online has been sentenced to eight months in jail by a judge at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Goodrum stole packages that included bank cards and gift cards totaling about £5,000 from his route. He used the stolen funds to fund his gambling addiction, where he played casino games and bet on football matches. When the Royal Mail launched an investigation into missing packages on Goodrum's route, he quickly became a prime suspect. A police search found 96 packages stashed under the defendant's barbecue grill, and he was charged with theft and fraud.
When he went in front of the court, Goodrum pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and six counts of fraud. He was handed an eight month jail sentence, and during his sentencing hearing, he said, "I know I was 100% wrong and 100% dishonest."
A spokesperson for the Royal Mail spoke about the case, sharing: "Royal Mail has a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and that stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who are honest and hardworking and 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."
Comments
That seems like an awfully light sentence for mail theft. I’d have thought he’d get five years.
What's going on with people lately? Roommate steals money, now mailman.. Can you even trust people?
96 packages are a lot... He probably has been in gambling trouble for a while, eventually to steal from his route. It is a sad news, anyway.
Not sure Slim, it seems a fair sentence to me, I've heard of a lot tougher criminal acts the perpetrators of which never entering the jail getting away with a suspended sentences or just a fines so...
But it depends from the local laws of any particular country I guess.
There's a lot of stories like this lately and it's indicative of how the gambling could really ruin your life if you're too addicted I guess..thankfully such thing still doesn't happened to me...still...but you never couldn't be too sure what the future holds I guess.