Postman jailed for stealing children's cash

Married father-of-four Simon Hambleton admitted stealing more than 100 cards over a year instead of delivering them on his round in his home village of Cudworth, near Barnsley.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that Hambleton, of Jackson Street, Cudworth stole one or two cards every few days. They often contained 10 or 20.

Jailing the 29-year-old, Judge Alan Goldsack said of the thefts from children: "It's not so much the value as the distress and disappointment caused as well as the breach of trust involved."

When interviewed by police Hambleton said he ran into financial difficulties over a car loan and ended up owing a large sum of money.

Laura Marshall, mitigating, said that he committed the thefts "out of desperation" and that they were wholly out of character.

But Judge Goldsack told Hambleton that he had breached a position of trust and that when postmen steal they must be seen to go to prison.