A former sub-postmaster who lied to bosses in order to cover up an £83,000 deficit in the post office where he worked has been spared jail.

Issam Ibrahim, 53, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, at Kingston Crown Court, after admitting fraud by giving Royal Mail falsified financial reports.

Earlier this year Ibrahim denied stealing £55,000 between August 1, 2006, and March 1, 2007, and the theft of £28,000 between July 14, 2007, and July 26, 2007, from an East Sheen post office - charges that were ordered to lie on file.

The Richmond and Twickenham Times has been banned from reporting a full account of Ibrahim’s punishment by a court order - a decision that we are currently appealing.

Ibrahim’s deceit, which spanned a three-year period beginning in 2005, led to the Upper Richmond Road West branch mysteriously closing on June 13, 2008.

Posters on display at the post office at the time blamed the closure on electrical problems. The sub post office did not re-open until January 3, this year.

In mitigation, Ian Dear said: “At quite an early stage when taking over the post office he got into administrative difficulty.

“He employed a number of people - it was quite clear to him that for whatever reason money was being lost.

“He could at this point have grasped the nettle and contacted the post office.

“As we know [problems] got worse.”

Mr Dear claimed Ibrahim, an accountant from Egypt, had complained “long and loud” about the training he received from Royal Mail bosses and blamed an “almost breathtaking” lack of regular audits for enabling the debt to grow to such a large figure.

He argued Ibrahim’s falsified records did not represent a breach of trust because “the very definition of breach of trust is that one takes the money and runs”.

But Royal Mail prosecutor, Adrian Chaplin, hit back at Ibrahim’s claims.

He said: “Royal Mail has in the region of 18,000 post offices nationwide.

“It’s just not feasible this sort of auditing.

“It’s to that extent that an issue of trust comes into this.”

Issuing a suspended sentence, Recorder Jack Bayliss said: “It was of course wholly wrong of you not to report the losses as you should have done.”

He added: “You must understand just how close you are to going to prison.”

Ibrahim, who now works in Heathrow’s duty free department, was also slapped with an order to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.

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