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AFP Photo / Philippe Huguen
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French postman has been found guilty of stealing over 13,000 letters and
keeping them hidden in his home. The postman, who lawyers claimed suffers from
“compulsive hoarding disorder” received a suspended sentence and was fined US$4,500.
The
court in Thionville, north-eastern France, gave the postman a six-month
suspended sentence on Tuesday.
AFP report continues:
The
man, 62, whose name is not disclosed, had been under suspicion for years and
was eventually caught in 2011 when La Poste (French Post) prepared a trap. They
used a letter containing a substance which stained his hands and clothes, so he
was caught red-handed.
The
police found 13,694 letters and about 6,000 postcards in his attic. David
Jeanmaire, the postman’s lawyer told AFP his client suffered from a
"compulsive hoarding disorder.”
"He
told police he was attracted by the colour and shape of certain letters, like a
magpie drawn towards shiny objects," Jeanmaire said. "If it was just
stealing money, he would have opened everything, and above all, he would have
got rid of the letters."
However,
the lawyer for La Poste Sandrine Crucy suggested he had a financial motive as
some of the letters contained money which the postman used to pay for petrol.
"His
behavior was a little curious," Crucy said.
French
post has promised to return all the letters to the addressees, some of which
were sent in 2001. The court in Thionville awarded €900 in moral damages to a
small group of claimants, although over 550 people have demanded compensation.
It’s
not the first case of a hoarding postal worker in France, last December over
23,000 letters were found in a post woman’s home in the Bordeaux region.
Postmen in France swear to scrupulously protect
the items they carry and the secrecy of the correspondence. The tradition dates
back to 1790.
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