A Perth mother who stole four Australia Post mailbags containing hundreds of letters and parcels has been jailed for three years.
The woman targeted a postie drop box in Kinross, stealing hundreds of letters and parcels. Credit: Jessica Shapiro JLS
Alesha Stopforth, 30, took the bags from a postie's secure drop box in Kinross on June 21, 2017 after breaking a padlock open.
The drop boxes are used by postal staff to secure mail bags while they deliver mail to other properties in the area. Once a postie's bag is empty, they return to the drop box to refill their load.
During her sentencing for the rare charge in Perth District Court on Thursday, it was revealed Stopforth had text a male friend stating, "drop boxes are killer" the day before the theft.
Police later found 420 letters at his house, some missing bank cards and drivers licences that had been sent via mail.
A subsequent search of Stopforth's handbag recovered five bank cards and one drivers' licence in other people's names.
She is facing numerous gains benefit by fraud charges in Perth Magistrates Court.
The drop box Stopforth stole from serviced around 850 addresses and around the time of the offence 33 registered mail items went missing.
The judge said important personal letters may have been lost forever.Credit: Ryan Stuart
She had also indicated to her male friend that she had taken bags from drop boxes in other locations, and mentioned she knew the location of another box in Butler.
According to a statement read aloud in court, Stopforth and her co-accused were keeping "an eye out for birthday cards, driver’s licence cards, bank cards and bank statements".
Judge Ronald Birmingham said in stealing the mail, Stopforth had disregarded the dependence people - in particular the elderly - had on Australia Post.
"You’ve only looked for the credit cards and you discard all of the personal communications," he said.
"It is the means of communication between many people and by your actions you deny them that opportunity, correspondence lost forever, last letters written by loved ones, all of those things gone.
"In these days of a cashless community almost, credit cards, driver’s licences, identification documents, gift cards ... all of these items are critical for the day to day well-being of many of the people in the community."
Stopforth, who has never been employed, stole the mail bags to feed her drug habit.
She has since taken steps towards rehabilitation.
Stopforth was jailed for three years but will be eligible for early release after 16 months on a $10,000 good behaviour order.
Given time already spent in custody, she could be released in June 2020.