Australia Post worker used stolen gift cards from post box to buy KFC

Mitchell Munro, 34, of George Street, Bathurst pleaded guilty in Bathurst Local Court on March 13, 2024 to stealing property as a clerk.

Sometime in late July of 2023, the victim bought five $50 gift cards and put them in an Australia Post collection box at Trinity Heights in Kelso bound for Queensland with a 'Get Well Soon' card, court papers say.

Munro was working as a postage driver on August 1 when he came across the victim's mail while emptying the box and opened the envelope.

He then took the gift vouchers for himself.

That afternoon, he went to KFC in Kelso and bought food with one of the vouchers, before he spent another the following day at the Family Hotel and BP service station.

On August 10, Munro used a gift card with Myer to make an online purchase, using his name and address.

Two weeks later, the person who the victim had sent the gift cards to said they hadn't got any mail.

The victim went to the Trinity Heights news agency and spoke with an employee, who said they had been having issues with mail lately.

During mid-September, the victim was told that Australia Post found the gift cards had been spent and stolen.

A security risk advisor from Australia Post then discovered it was Munro, and told police.

Police went to Munro's home on December 9 and asked about the stolen gift cards. He declined to answer any questions.

After some investigation, police found Munro's details attached to the use of some of the gift cards.

Shortly after Munro admitted his guilt, the court learned that he had a similar charge in the mid-2000s.

"It's a worry to me that this is a repeat, something needs to be done so there's not a third," Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis said.

A full Sentence Assessment Report was ordered before Munro's return to Bathurst Local Court on April 29 for sentence.