Rotherham postie hoarded 41,000 pieces of undelievered mail

A ROTHERHAM postman became overwhelmed by his deliveries and built up a two-year backlog of more than 41,000 items of mail, a court heard

Spencer Ballinger, of Blacksmith Court, Thorpe Hesley, was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work with £500 costs when he appeared before Sheffield magistrates.

He had pleaded guilty to three charges of delaying and damaging mail.

The court heard that Royal Mail began investigating after complaing about delay mail from residents in Burncross, Grenoside and Chapeltown areas of Sheffield.

Investigators found around 1,062 items of junk mail, and 103 opened postal packets. A further 295 items had been damaged because Ballinger had tried to shred them.

He told investigators that he had suffered from back and knee problems and intended to deliver the items later. He had not told his bosses because he feared being sacked.

His solicitor, Ms Rachel Baldwin, told the court the problem had “spiralled out of control” and he was driven by desperation, not greed, having got into financial problems because he was trying to pay of his mother’s loan and credit card debts.