Brad Douglas Perry pleads guilty in SA court to stealing hundreds of letters and parcels bound for 76 streets in three suburbs
Missing a letter? It might be because of this criminal, who stole every item of mail bound for 76 streets across three suburbs in a meth-fuelled robbery spree.
Police & Courts
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A man who raided three post office depots, stealing every piece of mail bound for residents of 76 streets across three suburbs, says he is “embarrassed and ashamed” by his crime.
On Wednesday, Brad Douglas Perry urged the District Court to extend whatever leniency it could for his “off-the-rails, self-destructive”, meth-fuelled offending.
Judge Rauf Soulio, however, told Perry not to “hold up false hope” given hundreds of his victims still do not know their letters were taken.
He expressed surprise that neither Australia Post nor the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions had publicised the mass mail theft, which happened in 2019.
“Is there no mechanism by which those who sent mail could be made aware it’s been stolen and, therefore, not delivered?” Judge Soulio asked.
“Bearing in mind this happened a long time ago, is there no process for Australia Post to publicise, in a general way, that this has happened?
“It seems that perhaps that would have been a step worth taking … sometimes, a missing letter might have significant consequences to the sender or the recipient.”
Perry, 48, of Morphett Vale, pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly appropriating a mail receptacle, which carries a maximum 10-year prison term.
Between June 11 and 14, 2019, he broke into excess mail depot bins at Australia Post’s Aldgate, Crafers and Glenunga facilities.
In total, Perry took 14 mail bags bound for homes on 76 streets and rifled them for credit cards, cheques and items he could sell to feed his drug habit.
Upon his arrest, SA Police found Perry’s iPad had been used to locate and mark the three depots – however, none of the stolen mail was recovered.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Hannah Grist said 97 of those items had mail tracking and 16 intended recipients had been compensated by Australia Post.
She asked Perry repay that compensation and cover the depots’ repair bill, totalling $1824.48, in addition to his sentence.
“Our submission is only a period of immediate imprisonment is appropriate given the seriousness of the offence,” Ms Grist said. “The amount of mail taken is unquantifiable.”
Aaron Almeida, for Perry, said his client accepted full responsibility for his actions and wanted an opportunity to rehabilitate.
“He went absolutely off the rails and was completely self-destructive … he’s embarrassed and ashamed by his offending,” Mr Almeida said.
Judge Soulio remanded Perry in custody for sentencing in October.
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