Derek Thompson gets suspended sentence for dumping mail

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Derek Thompson received a six-month sentence, suspended for six months, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 12 November 2018.

Thompson pleaded guilty to four charges of preventing the delivery of a postal package without the agreement of the addressee. The charges concerned Old Bray Road, Cabinteely, Dublin, on dates between 10 and 15 November 2016.

Detective Garda Gerard Doyle said a council worker found about 100 letters in a bin. An Post identified the delivery route, and staff later observed Thompson dump more items in a Cabinteely bin, the court heard. Two letters concerned medical appointments, but neither addressee missed an appointment. Doyle said the remaining mail included vouchers, brochures and charity letters.

Defence counsel Patrick Reynolds said Thompson understood the discarded items to be advertising mail and had shortened his round to help his elderly mother. He acknowledged that it was a serious breach of trust and asked the judge to consider Thompson’s circumstances.

Thompson had no previous convictions and lost his An Post job after 34 years. Judge Melanie Greally accepted that nobody had suffered harm, noted the loss of his job and placed the offence at the lower end of the scale before suspending the sentence.