A “GENUINELY REMORSEFUL” former postman who interfered with thousands of items of mail during a low period in his life when he was suffering from addiction issues has received a two year suspended sentence.

Seán Hogan of The Quays, Main Street, Passage West, Co Cork appeared at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today, having previously pleaded guilty to eight sample charges.

Three of the charges related to theft whilst the other five involved delaying, detaining or interfering with mail.

Judge Sinead Behan said that what occurred was a “serious breach of trust affecting both the public and An Post”.

Det Garda Peter Nolan said that the 39-year-old man was stopped by gardaí at a routine checkpoint in Innishannon, Co Cork on January 27th 2022, where they spotted a large quantity of letters in his car.

They found 149 undelivered items and 514 items that had been violated.

A follow up search of his home in Passage West was carried out – where gardaí came across 1,692 postal items of which 1,257 had been interfered. 

Gardaí conducting the search also found 6,000 undelivered publicity posts.

The discovery of the items led to a probe by the An Post National Investigation Unit.

Despite the best efforts of gardaí and An Post, a large number of the violated items could not be either delivered or returned to sender.

Det Garda Nolan said that Seán Hogan was very forthcoming and co operative with Gardaí both on his arrest and when he was interviewed.

He made full admissions and told gardaí that his behaviour was motivated by drink and drug addiction.

As his substance abuse worsened, Hogan, who has no previous convictions, started opening letters to see if they contained small amounts of cash.

Det Garda Nolan said that Hogan stepped down from his position with An Post in the summer of 2022. He now works in retail.

Nolan added that it was accepted that Hogan was genuinely remorseful for his actions.

“He expressed regret and remorse for his action at interview, expressions I believe are genuine – he became very upset during questioning and said he had left himself and his family and his employers down by his actions,” Nolan said.

Judge Behan was told that Hogan had entered a guilty plea at an early stage, and had not come to garda attention in the interim.

Defence barrister, Neil Horgan BL said that his client has been drug free for the last three years having attending a rehab facility to deal with his addiction problems.

He said that Hogan’s behaviour had cost him a permanent pensionable job.

Seán Hogan has already made a donation of €1,000 to Cork University Hospital to show his appreciation for help he received for his mental health. He also gathered compensation money for victims of his crime.

Judge Behan factored the guilty plea and the remorse of Hogan in to her sentencing and imposed a two year sentence.She suspended the sentence in its entirety.

Gardaí indicated that the entering of a guilty plea had saved the State the cost of a complex trial.