A POSTMAN pocketed more than £12,000 after stealing cash cards from bank customers on his round.

Paul Logan was yesterday jailed for ten months after a judge told him: "Our society depends highly upon the honesty of employees of the Royal Mail."

Logan, 29, admitted 11 specimen charges of theft and asked for a further 34 to be taken into account when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court.

The court heard how, over a year, Logan took letters containing customers' PIN numbers and their cards and withdrew hundreds of pounds at a time.

Paul Caulfield, prosecuting, said he spent the money on luxury items, such as a sofa, a necklace for his wife and a £1,200 holiday.

The scam was uncovered after complaints from customers led to bosses at the Royal Mail putting test packets in his round in the Stockton area.

Mr Caulfield said all the dummy packages were dealt with in the right manner but, while he was being secretly filmed, the investigators saw him acting suspiciously with a letter containing a cash card.

Twice-married Logan was arrested and told police temptation got the better of him because he wanted to provide a comfortable lifestyle for his wife and her child.

Robin Turton, defending, handed the court a bundle of references to highlight his client's good character and said: "His remorse is genuine and he has taken steps to try to put right what he can."

Logan, of Woodcock Close, Bankfield, Middlesbrough, will return to court to face a confiscation order as police try to recover the £12,130 he took.

Mr Turton said the root cause of the father-of-three's thieving was an "insidious" gambling addiction, which he has since taken steps to overcome.

He added: "Breach of trust cases are always sad and tragic because they are almost always people of good character who have hitherto led constructive, blameless lives, and have through stupidity and foolishness thrown it all away."

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, QC, told Logan: "You are, in short, a very well-respected family man, so it is particularly sad for a person of your character to appear on this occasion.

"Postmen occupy a special position of responsibility in the community, so any breach of that trust is particularly serious.

"In this case, that breach of trust is aggravated by the duration of your stealing as well as the aggregate amount by which you benefited."