A former Angus postman dumped 1458 items of mail in his house the day he was fired, after developing problems with drugs.
Adam Gummer (28), of St Vigeans Road, Arbroath, admitted intentionally delaying postal packets for one day between April 30, 2007, and August 20, 2010, when he appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
The court heard the offence was discovered after Gummer moved home and left the post at his previous address.
At the time Gummer had split up with his girlfriend and was using drugs.
Most of the post that he failed to deliver was ‘junk’ mail, but over 250 items were not.
Gummer’s defence agent said his client appreciated the “serious nature of the offence and the breach of trust.”
He said, “He had been given notice of termination of his employment that day and was down in the dumps.
“This happened four years ago and I would say it would be very unlikely the court will see him again.”
Gummer did not open any of the mail nor take any money out of any of the letters or packages.
He fully cooperated with the police when interviewed.
It was the next tenant to move into Gummer’s old address that alerted the authorities about the haul of undelivered post.
Sheriff Derek Pyle said, “You have to understand that as a postman you have a significant duty to discharge.
“There may well have been a lot of junk mail, but you had no idea what was contained in the other 250 and there could have been important materials.
“I regard this matter as a very serious one.”
Gummer was told to carry out 200 hours’ community service.