A man who disguised himself as a postman and used keys to steal 100 letters containing cheques from Dublin city-centre postboxes has been jailed for four years. Judge Kieran O'Connor said that to get the keys to the letter boxes and then disguise oneself in an An Post uniform was a deliberate and dishonest act which involved planning and implementation. Fergus Devereux (42), unemployed, father of three children, with addresses in Derry Drive, Crumlin, and Ballyogan Avenue, Carrickmines, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one charge of larceny on August 18th, 1997. Det Garda Dennis Harrington told Mr Michael O'Higgins, prosecuting, that An Post became suspicious when a total of 94 letters went missing from a number of postal boxes on Aston Quay and other boxes throughout the city centre.
Gardai collaborated with An Post's Investigation Unit to keep all postboxes at Aston Quay under surveillance. Devereux was spotted disguised as an An Post employee checking a number of postboxes. He wore an An Post shirt and sleeveless jacket and had three postbox keys which were placed on a ring he got from the old postal sorting office in Sheriff Street. Garda Harrington said Devereux was part of a larger criminal gang that took letters from postal boxes and opened them for cheques. He removed cheques from stolen letters and reposted those that did not contain cheques. Devereux never told gardai how he had got the uniform or the keys and he was never an employee of An Post.
When arrested he threw the keys into a derelict site on College Street. They were later recovered. Garda Harrington said Devereux had a number of previous convictions ranging from receiving stolen property to fraud and grievous bodily harm. Mr George Bermingham, defending, asked Judge O'Connor to deal with Devereux leniently. He said that even though he had a significant criminal record he had managed to remain crime-free since 1991 and this crime was committed "out of the blue." Mr Bermingham said it would be better for the community if Devereux had a significant sentence hanging over his head rather than a custodial sentence, as he had already been in jail. Judge O'Connor set a review date for March 3rd, 2000, on condition that Devereux completed an educational course to help him gain employment.