A ROYAL Mail delivery driver who stole more than £8,000 from his former employer has avoided jail.

Scott Spencer swindled the cash from kitchen supplier Howdens over an eight month period while assistant manager at the firm’s Beckenham branch.

The 29-year-old teamed up with dodgy builders to overcharge customers on their purchases before using his power over the company’s refund system to split the extra cash between himself and his accomplices.

He was sacked from his job after auditors spotted discrepancies in stock at the Sydenham depot last November, but has since been taken on by Royal Mail to run early morning special deliveries.

He pleaded guilty to one count of theft at Bromley Magistrates’ Court in June by which time he had paid back a total of £8,108 owed to the company.

Spencer, who lives with his wife and daughter in Aylesford Avenue, Beckenham, was given a five month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, at Croydon Crown Court.

He was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.