A DPD worker printed off fake labels and stuck them on packages containing expensive phones and gadgets so he could steal them over Christmas.
Amardeep Singh was paid £20 per parcel he diverted, many of which contained presents for over the festive season, including an iPhone, an iMac computer and an Apple watch.
Singh, 31, placed false labels bought on Parcel Monkey over genuine tags to divert the packages to several addresses in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle under Lyme, where they would be picked up by either himself or his wife.
While some of the targeted parcels were intercepted by DPD, the scam ended up costing the courier £8,750 in reimbursements to customers.
The total value of the parcels intended to be stolen was estimated to be £26,400.
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Singh, who worked at DPD between November 2022 and January 2023, was found to have factory reset his phone while being interviewed.
When questioned, the former warehouse operative said he had been approached by a man in Smethwick who offered him money in exchange for collecting parcels.
After delivering around five parcels to the man, Singh claimed he was unable to call his contact by phone and discarded the sim card he had been given.
He denied that either he or his wife knew the contents of each package.
Jamie Scott, defending said that Singh has since ‘matured’ and had ‘learnt his lesson’.
He told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: ‘The impact of these proceedings has been felt by him.
‘He has moved back to London and works six days a week as a motorcyclist delivery driver.
‘He is an example of a hard-working immigrant trying to make the best of himself. His motivation was money but not greed.’
Recorder Jeremy Lasker, sentencing, said that Singh had come within ‘an inch of going to prison’.
‘It is noticeable that you only commenced your employment with DPD in November 2022. So it was not long afterwards that you began this dishonest course of conduct’, he said.
He continued: ‘This was a well thought out plan. It involved a degree of preparation and sophistication.
‘The false address labels must have been prepared in advance and it was down to you to decide which parcels were worthy of diversion.’
Singh was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
He will also have to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
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