A POST office worker who deliberately preyed on elderly customers, fleecing them out of more than £3,000, has been jailed for 12 months.

Abdul Razaq, who stole the money to feed his gambling addiction, was told by a judge he had committed a gross breach of trust. Mr Recorder Readhead QC said he believed that, if it had not been for the vigilance of one of the customers, who had spoken to his son, Razaq would have continued to steal.

He added that the offences were aggravated by the fact that the victims were dependent on the money for their state pensions and that the loss would have caused them hardship.

Razaq, 42, of Stoneylane, Sparkhill, had previously admitted 20 charges of fraud.

Harinderpal Dhami, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said the defendant was a post office counter clerk at the Coventry Road post office in Small Heath and that there were nine complainants and that the total loss had been £3,150. He said Razaq had been employed as a counter clerk for three years and used the same method each time.

When a customer went in to withdraw money from an account, they would be asked to enter a PIN number. However Razaq, who had access to customers’ accounts, would tell the victim there had been an error and asked them to enter it again, when he took the opportunity to pocket cash.

He said one man realised there was something wrong when he withdrew £200 and later noticed on a statement that a further sum had been withdrawn at the same time.

Wilbert Harris, defending, said Razaq had done a lot for his local community.

He said that he had been suffering from depression and had also accrued debts as a result of a gambling addiction.