Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Postie appears in court on theft charges

Updated at 9:22 pm on 3 December 2012

A Queenstown postie accused of stealing thousands of items of mail destined for the suburb of Fernhill has again appeared in court.

Philippa Lynette Lindsay, 32, appeared in Queenstown District Court on Monday.

She faces one representative charge of theft by a person in a special relationship, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.

Ms Lindsay was remanded without plea and will reappear in court on 14 February.

She was arrested last month after a police said an investigation revealed between 3000 and 5000 stolen items of mail were at her residence.

Further investigation revealed another 10,000 letters, parcels and postcards in a storage unit in Arrowtown.

Mail finally gets through

Eleven posties delivered thousands of letters, parcels and postcards in Fernhill on Sunday.

New Zealand Post national heartland manager Dean Horsup says the posties thought people might react badly.

But he says the response has been generally positive.

Blake McDowall, 73, says he was handed 30 items of mail that had gone missing over the last two years.

He says they included bills, a book and an appointment card asking for confirmation that he wanted a crucial operation in Dunedin on 14 December last year.

Mr McDowall says he "packed a sad" on 22 December, was put in an ambulance and taken to Dunedin Hospital where two coronary stents were put in urgently.

Fernhill Ratepayers Association president Rob Freer said it would be a relief to finally get his mail.

Police are continuing to investigate the details of about 500 pieces of opened mail and contacting senders and intended receivers of the items.

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