Their daughter was disabled and attended a special school. His wife had cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a weakness on one side of her body. Mark Stuart, defending, said the vast majority of the post was unopened, adding he had undoubtedly had a drink problem, health difficulties, family commitments and had been struggling to cope. The court was told the defendant had a conviction for stealing from his employers in 1994, which was spent by the time he applied to work as a postman. The prosecutor said the Royal Mail would say he had been monitored on light duties after his return from being off sick, had been supervised and had been found to be fit enough to make deliveries.

In the property were 15,253 postal packets, some on top of the fridge and some of them dating back to March 2007.Ī further 15,831 items were found in the garden shed or behind it, in a bin. John Gibson, prosecuting for the Royal Mail, said on September 15 last year, officers, with his agreement, went to search his house and found a 'massive interference ' with mail. In court he admitted interfering with mail between March 2007 and September 2010, damage, and theft between August and September last year. It cost the Royal Mail £1,530 to sort all the undelivered postal packets and finally send them to the rightful recipients. The hearing was told Tasker, an asthmatic, had a 'tough time' at home, looking after his wife and daughter who are both disabled, almost single-handedly, which may have been why he drank too much. That has persuaded me to suspend the sentence.' It's having had the benefit of seeing you in court and seeing your wife. Stash: Tasker hid thousands of pieces of post in his garden, before he was discovered in September last year

On the day he was observed, he didn't start on his walk until noon at the earliest, finished about 2pm and had left more than 300 packets undelivered. The postman of 12 years was eventually put under surveillance by the Royal Mail last September, after complaints from the public about mail not being delivered.

Tasker also wrapped the letters in plastic carrier bags to try to keep them dry because he claimed he would deliver them once he had sobered up.īut he never got round to taking the post to its rightful destinations, instead he pocketed at least £200 sent as gifts in cards, including money meant for an 18th birthday. Steve Tasker, 43, who would often have a few pints before his usual 6am start, hoarded the 'staggering' collection for three and a half years and kept almost 16,000 mail items in or behind his garden shed, Burnley Crown Court was told. Failed to deliver: Postman Steve Tasker stashed more than 31,000 parcels and letters at his home because he was too drunk to complete his roundsĪ drunkard postman neglected his rounds and hid 31,000 undelivered parcels and letters at his home because he was regularly too trollied to deliver them.

Steve tasker wife