A spendaholic Royal Mail postwoman who stole thousands of pounds worth of gift vouchers and foreign currency from parcels has walked free from court with a suspended sentence.
Postwoman admitted stealing 692 postal packets
Rachel Owen, 43, a deliveries officer at Royal Mail's Wigan depot in Greater Manchester, looted the contents of parcels while making deliveries. She then spent the vouchers online, claiming she had developed a compulsion for impulsive spending while out shopping.
Police were called after the online retailer Love2Shop reported that customers had not received gift cards dispatched to them in the post. An investigation revealed Owen would secretly open parcels left in a delivery locker, steal vouchers from inside, activate them online, and make purchases on at least 48 occasions.
She also stole special delivery postal packets containing various foreign currency with a sterling value of up to £5,300. In total, 692 postal packets were stolen by Owen between January 2022 and February 2025.
Police raid uncovered stolen goods and cash
During a raid on Owen's home in Ince, Wigan, police seized items including a black electric scooter, a new TV, a ceiling light, a gas cooker, an envelope containing £500 cash, Love2Shop vouchers, and receipts from a Bureau De Change.
Prosecutor Lucy Moran told Bolton Crown Court: “From October 2023 to November 2024, items of second class mail containing 30 gift cards from Love2Shop were posted to the Wigan area and were not delivered to the intended addresses. Customers complained to Love2Shop that they had not been delivered but checks showed the gift cards had been used in the Wigan area with some online transactions. Most had been activated online.”
Moran added: “Almost £600 was spent on the gift cards including at Argos online for an Amazon fire stick and a ceiling light. At times she has some goods delivered to her own address including a smart TV and a gas cooker from Argos.”
Owen faced up to three and a half years in jail
Owen admitted three charges of theft and one of fraud. She faced up to three and a half years in jail but was freed with a 14-month prison stretch suspended for two years when she agreed to get therapy for her issues. She must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work, ten days of rehabilitation, attend the women’s problem solving court, and participate in 12 months of mental health treatment.
The court heard that Love2Shop customers were not left out of pocket, but the retailer lost a total of £5,352.02 in the scam. Royal Mail paid out £3,945.69 to customers whose special delivery items had gone missing. Owen has since signed over her Royal Mail pension of £12,129 to pay towards losses and investigation costs totalling £25,000. The rest of the bill will be met by the taxpayer.
Defence cited mental health struggles and caring responsibilities
In mitigation, defence counsel James Preece said: “She has explained to me that she has a compulsion for impulsive spending. She gets a buzz from spending. She does not have to spend the money on herself to get that buzz, though I concede that she has certainly spent money on herself in this case.”
Preece added that Owen's impulsive spending was worse when she was struggling with her mental health. She had been caring for her father before he passed away in 2022, her sister passed away in early 2024, and her brother had a heart attack later that year. Owen has depression and anxiety and has been prescribed stronger medication. She has caring responsibilities for her mother, who has COPD, spondylitis of the spine, and diabetes, and for her 16-year-old daughter with autism and ADHD.
The judge, Recorder Geoffrey Lowe, told Owen: “Your role was to deliver items but they were pilfered by you and you abused your position of trust by selecting items you thought were of most value. The presentence report speaks of you doing these things to help others but clearly there was a significant amount of personal financial gain. You explained that you got a buzz from doing that. Many people do, but they use their own money. They do not steal from their employer by going into those letters and behaving in the way you did.”
