Bromley postman James Argent was 'lazy' and kept letters at home (From News Shopper)

Bromley postman James Argent was 'lazy' and kept letters at home rather than deliver them

12:40pm Tuesday 4th September 2012 in Bromley By Jim Palmer

A “LAZY” postman has been ordered to carry out unpaid work after he kept mailbags at home instead of delivering them.

James Argent, of Parkside Avenue in Bromley, admitted intentionally delaying the delivery of 102 items of mail to two postcode areas between February 2009 and August last year.

At Bromley Magistrates’ Court today, prosecutor Denis Bradley said: “It would appear to be a case of laziness rather than dishonesty.

“It is not suggested that any of the envelopes were opened or the contents taken out of any of them.”

Argent, aged 33, had been a Royal Mail employee for nearly five years when police discovered mailbags in a search of the house he lives in with his mother.

The court heard that he intended to place the packets – only around a fifth of one day’s round, and of low value – back into the system, but had failed to do so.

Richard Scotter, mitigating, said Argent was under pressure at work and frequently had to take his autistic son, 13, to appointments.

Mr Scotter said: “He succumbed to temptation in the sense that he terminated his round earlier than he should have done and went home.”

Sentencing Argent to a 12-month community order, with 100 hours of unpaid work, chairman of the magistrates Michael Burgess said Argent’s offence was not an appropriate way to deal with stress at work.

He said: “Next time, do not take this type of option to sort out your problems, because you are going to get into more difficulty and the public suffer.”

Argent was also ordered to pay £200 costs.