A crooked postman who acted as a ‘look-out’ for a

A crooked postman who acted as a ‘look-out’ for a senior
colleague thieving packages from an East London sorting
office has been jailed for four months.

Snaresbrook Crown Court had heard how mail order goods
were targetted by Peter Ford, 39, and transferred into
accomplice David Hall’s car.

Last month Judge Richard Gee sentenced father of five Ford,
of Chandos Road, Stratford, to 12 months imprisonment, after he
pleaded guilty to four charges of theft of packages.

A jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court had found Hall, 23, guilty
of a single count of theft of five packages on April 7 last year
from the sorting office at Stephenson Street, Canning Town.

Hall, a married man, of Brandreth Road, Beckton, had denied
the charge.

Jailing him for four months, Judge Gee told him that such theft
caused ‘terrible problems for the Post Office.

The whole system
depends on postmen not stealing mail.

‘
Judge Gee said it was plain that Hall was ‘recruited as the
look-out’ by Ford, but added:
‘Theft from the Post Office by people like you, who are
entrusted with the post, have reached somewhat epidemic proportions
at the moment.

‘
As he was led from the dock to begin his sentence Hall,
smartly dressed in a suit, waved to his wife who wept in the public
gallery.

The court had heard that he had been employed to sort through
parcels to be distributed around the South East of England while
Ford ‘a senior grade postman’ supervised the Next Day Express
service.

Mr John Blair-Gould, prosecuting, said that ‘postal authorities
had reason to believe that parcels were being stolen from this depot’
and on April 7 members of the the Croydon based Post Office
Investigation Department kept the pair under observation.

Ford, who was supposed to be on duty at his desk, was seen
‘inspecting items’ – particularly mail order goods – to see if
they were worth stealing.

The jury had heard that Hall would assist in going through the
packages although he had ‘no business to’ and was supposed to be
working in a different part of the building.

Counsel said that most of the time Hall would ‘keep watch’ and
make ‘signals’ to Ford as to when the coast was clear.

When Ford made trips outside with the parcels he was ‘plainly’
going to put them in Hall’s car which was parked outside, continued
Mr Blair-Gould.

Eventually Ford ‘probably recognised a local investigation
officer because he turned tail and ran off.

‘
Counsel said that shortly afterwards Hall realised the game was
up and drove away at speed in his car.

Investigation officers went to his home but he had already got
rid of the stolen property on the way, the court was told.

Ford was seen at his home during the early hours of the next
morning and various stolen items were found there.

Giving evidence, Hall had told the jury that he was not party
to the thefts and denied being Ford’s look-out.

Defending him Mr Simon Birks, said the offence was ‘completely
out of character for him.

‘
Counsel continued: ‘He played the lesser role and was brought
in on the spur of the moment.

He gained nothing and lost his job.

‘
ends