Postmistress hid son's crimes

A Lincolnshire postmistress has admitted trying to cover up her son's theft of nearly £16,000 from the branch were she worked.

Brenda Coles was given a six month suspended prison sentence at Lincoln Crown Court.

Mrs Coles, who is 61 and from Railway Court in Saxilby, ran the St Peters at Gowts sub post office in a co-op store on Lincoln High Street.

Lincoln Crown Court heard how she tried to falsify records on four separate occasions after her heroine addict son, Duncan Coles, 32, stole money from the safe.

The cover-up was discovered in an audit in February and Mrs Coles was suspended.

In mitigation, the court heard Mrs Coles had a previous unblemished record, and because of the conviction and her age, it is unlikely she will ever work again.

Duncan Coles was jailed for two years.