People must be able to have confidence in the postal system, a judge has said after convicting a former An Post employee of theft and interfering with mail over a 2½-year period.
“This was a serious breach of trust affecting both the public and An Post,” said Judge Sinéad Behan after hearing the case of Seán Hogan (39), on whom she imposed a fully suspended two-year sentence.
Hogan, of the Quays, Main Street, Passage West, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to eight sample charges, three of theft and five of delaying, detaining or interfering with mail.
Detective Garda Peter Nolan, of Clonakilty Garda station, told the court that Hogan, who worked at the Cork South City Delivery Centre in Togher, was stopped by at a routine Garda checkpoint in Innishannon on January 27th, 2022.
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Officers noticed a large quantity of mail in his car while they were speaking to him.
Gardaí found 149 undelivered items and 514 items that had been violated. In a follow-up search of Hogan’s apartment on February 7th, they found 1,692 postal items, of which 1,257 had been interfered with. They also found 6,000 undelivered pieces of publicity post.
The items found in Hogan’s car were posted between December 21st, 2020 and January 22nd, 2022. The items found in his apartment had been posted between August 12th, 2019 and January 21st, 2022. The discovery led to an inquiry by An Post’s national investigation unit.
All the items were photographed and documented and while An Post was able to send some to their intended destinations, and return others to their senders, a large number of the violated items could not be either delivered or returned, said Det Garda Nolan.
Hogan was forthcoming when stopped by gardaí and made full admissions when he later presented for arrest and interview, said Det Garda Nolan.
He explained he had become addicted to drink and drugs as a way of coping with a personal problem and said he started out opening a few letters and stealing small sums of cash. He said the problem escalated as his substance abuse worsened.
Det Garda Nolan said Hogan had no relevant previous convictions and had not come to Garda attention since. He resigned from An Post in June 2022, was now working in retail and his new employer was aware of his offending, the court heard.
Det Garda Nolan agreed with prosecution barrister Brendan Kelly that Hogan’s guilty plea had saved the State time and money as it would have been a complex case.
Defence barrister Neil Horgan said his client completed an in-house drug treatment programme at Tabor Lodge and has been drug-free since 2022. He said that Hogan was deeply remorseful for his actions, which cost him a permanent, pensionable job.
He said his client had made a €1,000 donation to Cork University Hospital in gratitude for the assistance he received with his mental health and had €2,000 which he wished to offer in compensation to the victims of his crimes.
