Postie's plight is probed by MP (From Warrington Guardian)

Postie's plight is probed by MP

EX-POSTAL worker Pat Bellamy, sacked by Royal Mail for blowing the whistle on her husband's mailbag theft, has been touched by the Nantwich community's reaction to her story as told in The Guardian.

MP Gwyneth Dunwoody is poised to take up Pat's case with Royal Mail after meeting with Mrs Bellamy last week.

Mrs Dunwoody said: "I have contacted Royal Mail and am awaiting their reply. I hope we can move forward to a happy conclusion."

Mrs Bellamy's husband Neil was jailed last month for stealing £89,000 from two mailbags, and tried to put the blame on his wife, explaining that he felt under financial pressure.

After being sacked for 'failing to come forward with the information at the earliest opportunity', Pat felt that people were blaming her for Neil's imprisonment.

But Pat told The Guardian this week: "I feel so much better now that people are listening to me and it is especially heartening to have my MP taking up my case.

"Before, I was scared to go out because I was so ashamed I had let this happen to me and people were blaming me for what Neil did.

"But now people are stopping me in the street and sympathising."

With her husband behind bars, Pat decided it was time people knew her side of the story, which began when she discovered Neil burning mail and hoarding bags of money in the shed.

Mrs Bellamy described how she felt 'sickened' at the betrayal of trust.

And from that point on their marriage began to crumble, with Pat spiralling into depression.

After the couple separated and Pat discovered the second theft, she pushed herself to inform her employers, who had not yet begun any investigations into the missing mailbags.

But she was dismayed by what she described as an 'extremely uncaring' attitude shown to her by Royal Mail, and in December Pat received a formal dismissal.

She is currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal, but is prepared to go to an industrial tribunal if she is not satisfied with Royal Mail's response.

Pat said: "How can such a big company do this to an employee?

"I have lost everything and without my job I can't even pay my bills so I'm worried they could take my house.

"How can they fail to miss this amount of money, then sack me when I tell them?"

kcooksey@guardiangrp.co.uk