A POSTAL worker who spent hundreds of pounds with a bank card he stole from an undelivered letter has been ordered to pay the money back.

James Lee Jones, of Ryelands Street, Whitecross, Hereford, lived in Clyro and had been working for the Royal Mail in Hay-on-Wye for two weeks when he took the card and used it to buy cigarettes, alcohol and petrol in January this year.

Magistrates sentencing the unemployed 19-year-old at Brecon Law Courts, last Friday, ordered him to repay the £200 spent.

He pleaded guilty to four charges relating to the theft of a postal packet and obtaining money.

Chair of the bench, Richard Doylend, told him the public had a right to believe postmen were honest and that he had breached the trust put in him by the public and his employers.

Jones was dismissed from work after a woman reported the missing Barclaycard to police.

Prosecuting, Roland Wooderson said CCTV tapes were taken from Hay’s Spar shop and it emerged the defendant had used the card around five times in Hay and Hereford.

Bruce Gray, defending, said bullying from local boys and splitting from his girlfriend had sent the defendant spiralling into depression and he had committed the offence at a vulnerable stage in his life.

He said he had cut the card up after using it a few times and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Magistrates also told Jones to pay £200 in costs and complete 100 hours of community service.