Blackburn post office counter clerk stole £170,000

Mohammed Patel, 20, was working for his family at the main Blackburn post office and helped himself to the money over an eight month period.

Burnley Crown Court heard Patel bought and hired luxury cars, and spent thousands on designer clothes and jewellery with the proceeds of his dishonesty.

He was caught after the Royal Mail received reports about discrepancies in the post office’s accounts Patel was jailed for two years four months but the court was told that his brother, the subpostmaster, was liable for the debts and had to pay the money back.

The defendant, now of Hill Cot Road, Bolton, admitted theft of £166,873.52 between December 18 2006 and August 2 2007. An allegation of money laundering was ordered to lie on file.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt, told him he had committed a gross breach of trust and meant his wholly blameless and respectable brother was left with the defendant’s debt for no good reason.

She added: “You weren’t driven by any dire financial need or desperation.

"You were driven by greed and want, and you frittered this vast sum of money away on frivolous luxuries and illegal drugs.”

Neil Fryman, prosecuting for the Royal Mail, told the court the defendant’s father and his father’s wife managed the Blackburn office while his brother was the subpostmaster.

Patel started taking cash within a month of starting work there.

Patel had access to all the finances at the post office and had to enter a password to gain access to the computer.

He started to manipulate the books so that they would show that cheques were coming into the branch when they were not, to cover up taking large amounts of money.

Mr Simon said inquiries by post office investigators started when they received a report regarding concerns about the Blackburn franchise in January.

The defendant was interviewed under caution and gave a “disarmingly frank” account of what he had done.

The prosecutor said: “In short, he was living a lavish lifestyle.”

Patel said he had bought cars, a £6,500 quad bike, and two Chanel watches, together worth £10,000. He told investigators he had bought his girlfriend expensive earrings, clothes and gifts and they had been on holiday abroad.

He had also hired a top-of-the-range Mercedes for a weekend at a cost of £1,200.

Mr Fryman said when Patel was asked how he had hidden the spoils from his family, he said he had put the items in the cars and then parked them in the street behind his house.

The defendant had no previous convictions.

The court was told Patel’s brother owned the Blackburn franchise and he was contractually bound to pay the money back. Up to October 31, £26,279 had been handed over.

Irshad Sheikh, defending, said Patel had at first made a mistake, didn’t want to own up, and when it was not spotted, he realised he could enter cheques as having been received and effectively keep the money.

He said: “He nearly ripped his family apart as a result of these matters.”

The barrister said Patel now worked in his brother-in-law’s Bolton shop, and his brother-in-law trusted him with cash because he believed he had learned his lesson.

His employer kept the money he earned to pay the defendant’s brother.

The defendant’s father had paid his £25,000 life savings and all the family was chipping in to repay the stolen money.

Mr Sheikh added: “The defendant has brought shame on a family that has always been hard-working and lived a law-abiding life.

“Nobody has been in trouble and he is the only person who has.”