A SUB-POSTMASTER who stole more than £200,000 from takings to pay off a member of his own community who was threatening him, has walked free from court.

Ajmair Singh was told by a judge that the “wholly exceptional” circumstances of the case meant he did not have to serve an immediate custodial sentence.

Singh, 35, was given a 12- month prison term, suspended for two years, and was ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid community work and observe a sixmonth curfew.

He was also ordered to pay £2,000 towards the prosecution bill by Judge Les Spittle, who told Teesside Crown Court: “Royal Mail should not have to meet that cost.”

The court heard that Singh took almost £218,000 from two post office branches he ran in Middlesbrough and handed it over to Hamair Singh, who is not related to him.

He was said to have received threats and feared for the safety of his family unless he paid the money, so did not go to the police or tell other members of the Sikh community.

Between December 2007 and September last year, he took £207,206.52 from the Coulby Newham post office and £10,700 from the High Clarence branch.

The father-of-four once handed over £60,000 to Hamair Singh and tried to hide the missing cash by making false declarations, but the thefts were uncovered during an internal audit.

Singh, of Gunnergate Lane, Marton, Middlesbrough, who admitted two charges of theft at an earlier hearing, has already paid back £113,000.

When he last appeared in court three months ago, Judge Spittle allowed him time to find the rest of the money and asked police to investigate the threats.

The judge heard yesterday that other members of the Sikh community on Teesside had been targeted by Hamair Singh, and the sub-postmaster had not benefited from the thefts.

Brian Russell, mitigating, said hopes that his client’s family had of selling property and raising the outstanding £104,000 had not yet materialised, but would at some stage.

In the meantime, Singh – who has no realisable assets – will pay off the debt at £300-a-month until either he or his family can settle the bill in full, ruled Judge Spittle.

The judge stressed that the sentence did not mean Singh or anyone else should think he had “bought” his way out of prison by offering to pay back the cash.