A POSTMAN who stole thousands of pounds from parcels walked free from court yesterday.

Paul Petre, who had 17 years’ service with the Post Office, stole a total of £14,141 from special delivery parcels sent to post offices in Derwentside, Durham Crown Court heard.

The 39-year-old had earlier admitted three offences of stealing money that belonged to Royal Mail.

Appearing for sentence, Petre was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

Petre, of Barnhill, Stanley, County Durham, turned to theft to pay bills for his sick baby son, the court was told.

The boy was diagnosed at birth with a serious eye problem and later a hip complaint.

Without telling his wife, Petre obtained his first credit card and used it to buy items needed for his son, running up a debt of £11,000.

He then turned to theft to obtain money.

Paul Caulfield, prosecuting, said the Post Office took extreme care with special packages and operated a system in which each one was tracked until its delivery.

He told the court: “The tracking system ended at him.

When suspicions were aroused, Petre was the subject of a covert testing operation.”

Investigators found almost £11,000 in a chest of drawers in Petre’s bedroom.

Mr Caulfield said Petre told the officials the packages he had stolen were mis-sorts, but that proved to be a lie.

Nicholas Peacock, for Petre, said that because of his client’s son’s hip complaint, he had slept little for months and was stressed.

He said: “Both Petre and his wife had to take time off work. Hers was unpaid leave and this led to the money problem.

“This is a very, very sad case for him and his family, but however one looks at it, it was a breach of trust.”

Judge Christopher Prince told Petre: “This was a serious breach to trust.

“You were a long-term employee.

You were stealing from your employers.

“You had a son with a significant disability and this had a great effect on you.

There were enormous demands placed on you.

“You were very close to a nervous breakdown.”

Along with the suspended sentence, Petre was ordered to be under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months and pay £1,000 compensation to the Post Office.