A young Scotsman working as a postal carrier in Germany failed to deliver the mail for over a year and hoarded or disposed of at least 20,000 letters, police said Tuesday.
The 23-year-old employee of a private postal firm told authorities he was overworked and opted to collect the envelopes in his flat or throw them away rather than bring them to their addressees, authorities said in a statement.
He was caught when a neighbour in Frankfurt saw him dumping stamped envelopes, catalogues, circulars and packages into a garbage container.
The woman grew suspicious because she had seen the Scot do the same thing with dozens of letters before and noticed overflowing mailbags in the basement of their apartment building.
She alerted the police and the firm that employed the man.
A search turned up post in his wardrobe, under his mattress and in other nooks and crannies of his flat.
He then led police to the storage cellar where they found more sacks and boxes full of parcels and envelopes addressed to recipients including law offices, hospitals, tax authorities and private citizens.
Police estimated that at least 20,000 letters entrusted to the man had not reached their intended recipients, including a few letters addressed to the Scot himself.
"The 23-year-old had not opened any of the letters but simply stored them so he would not have to deliver them," the statement said.
"The young man stated that he was attending night school to earn his secondary school diploma and found it too overwhelming to carry the mail on top of that."
He now faces possible charges of theft and misappropriation of mail.
And my missing IIS T-shirt...and a Deals Direct woolen blanket...and...a box of wine....and items my partner sent from her online art business...and....the list goes on
But I can't blame this sad Scottish case for my list of woe. Just good ol' Ozzie Post!!
