Parcelforce driver avoids jail after stealing Royal Mail packages to sell on eBay
A thieving delivery driver was rumbled when one of the Royal Mail parcels he stole was discovered on eBay.
Michal Biernacki, 37, plundered 244 items from Parcelforce’s depot in Birmingham in just three months, with the haul worth more than £31,000.
His home was eventually raided by police when a customer complained about not receiving an item.
Officers found hundreds of missing electronic goods, designer clothes and cosmetics, as well as some products listed on his eBay account.
Biernacki made a total profit of £14,226 from the stolen goods. While most of the victims were compensated, some international customers from China were left empty-handed.
He admitted two charges of theft but was given a suspended 15-month sentence after a judge said prison would not rehabilitate him.
Mark Jackson, defending, said Biernacki, of Reedswood Close, Walsall, was working as an agency driver and living in rented accommodation with his wife and two children.
He said: ‘It is suggested this was sophisticated but I respectfully disagree. The duration and number of items doesn’t make it sophisticated.
‘At the end of the day he takes parcels and puts them on his own eBay account.’
Passing sentence, Recorder Michelle Heeley QC said: ‘Until these convictions you were a man of good character.
‘You have lost that good character. You have a wife and family. You have let them down and you have let your employer down.
‘You did not stop and think about the consequences of your crimes. This was a high degree of trust.’
But the judge ruled Biernacki would be allowed to walk free from court, adding: ‘Prison is meant to punish people like you who steal from hard-working people. But my role as judge is both to punish and assist in rehabilitation.
‘I have to consider you are a low risk of re-offending and low risk of harm. Prison would punish you but I am not sure it would necessarily rehabilitate you.’
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