Post office manager faked robbery

Westley criticised post office security following the incidents

A post office manager has been jailed for stealing more than £26,000 he claimed had been snatched during a robbery and a burglary at his store.

Graham Westley, 40, told police the money had been stolen from Hacheston Post Office near Woodbridge in Suffolk during two incidents last year.

He even told Ipswich Crown Court he had a plastic bag put over his head and had his wrists bound during one raid

On Friday he was found guilty of two theft charges and jailed for 30 months.

The prosecution said forensic tests had found fundamental flaws in Westley's version of events.

Bolt cutters

Westley had claimed £14,000 had been stolen from the safe during a robbery in May last year - a robbery in which he said his hands were taped to bars over a window.

Charles Kellett, prosecuting, said forensic scientists examined the tape but failed to find any hairs from the back of Westley wrists attached to it.

Five months after the robbery, Westley reported a burglary in which £12,750 had been stolen. He told officers someone had entered the post office by cutting through a metal grill which covered a window.

But the court was told forensic tests failed to confirm a burglary had taken place.

Experts said the grill had been cut from inside with a pair of bolt cutters later found at Westley's home.

He also claimed in an interview with the BBC that post office officials could have done more to help with security and said that he was selling up as the business was too risky.