A POSTMAN who stole thousands of pounds from people’s mail to feed his gambling addiction has been given a suspended prison sentence.

A court was told Lee Farrington was responsible for the theft of up to £10,000 in vouchers from the Bolton Mail Centre in Farnworth.

He was exposed when mail chiefs launched a secret investigation into his conduct — and caught him red-handed as he slipped letters and cards into his bag.

Yesterday, Farrington appeared at Bolton Magistrates Court, where chairman of the bench, Christine McCormick, told him: “We have been very saddened by this case.

“You have accepted that you have betrayed the trust of the Royal Mail. More than that, you have betrayed the trust of the public in the Royal Mail, which is very serious.

The court heard Farrington “systematically and deliberately” stole thousands of pounds of vouchers from items of post between March, 2007, and June, 2008.

The 37-year-old, of Brodick Drive, Breightmet, then sold them at half price in casinos and bookies to feed his gambling addiction.

Magistrates were told that £10,000 of gift vouchers went missing from Bolton Mail Centre in a year. Suspicions were aroused when the Capital Bonds company reported that a number of their customers had not received vouchers and an investigation was launched.

Within 30 minutes of Farrington starting a night shift at the sorting office, he was caught stealing the mail. Royal Mail investigators were unable to prove that Farrington had stolen all £10,000 in vouchers, but the losses stopped when he was sacked for gross misconduct in June.

Farrington admitted making more than £2,000 and estimated he stole between 300 and 400 greetings cards over a period of 14 months.