THERE is something that really gets the public’s goat whenever a dishonest postie appears in court.

It’s probably because we’ve all been victims of post not turning up, whether it is through malicious and thieving intent or just the Royal Mail losing things.

The worst reactions come out when the said postman has been caught swiping the Christmas or birthday presents of little children: it just hits that anger button inside most of us.

Allan Brimblecombe, the man caught with more than 6,000 items stashed at his former marital home can consider himself a very lucky individual.

The sheer number of items and that they date back over five years is astonishing — particularly when you consider he was shopped by his ex-wife rather than the Royal Mail figuring out thousands of items connected to Brimblecombe’s round had gone missing.

And there is the remarkable coincidence that he also bought 108 rental DVDs at a car boot sale, rather than swiping them himself. Considering these are DVDs sent out by a rental firm which distributes its films through the post, it can only mean that there is a second bent postman out there.

One of the main casualties of this though is the Royal Mail. Public confidence in its service is already in decline and crimes like this only compound a reluctance to use it.