Thief helped postmistress stage £52k robbery

A thief who admitted helping a postmistress stage a £52,000 robbery has been jailed for three and a half years, although he walked free from court due to the amount of time spent on remand.

Lee Stevens, 39, bound the woman and took money from a safe at a Post Office in Newcastle, but messages between the pair showed it was "pretend", the city's crown court heard.

The woman, named in court documents as Dawn Rankin, had denied wrongdoing but died before her trial could take place, the court heard.

Stevens, from Bedlington, admitted conspiracy to commit theft. He also admitted dangerous driving during a 130mph police pursuit and possessing ammunition on a later occasion.

At about 14:00 BST on 18 August 2023, a woman walking past Westgate Hill Post Office heard someone inside banging and shouting for help, prosecutor John Crawford said.

The shop's shutter was down and the woman raised the alarm, with police finding the postmistress inside, the court heard.

She claimed an unknown man had got into her car and held what she thought was a weapon against her while demanding she take him into the Post Office, the court heard.

The postmistress said the robber made her open the safe, then tied her wrists with cable ties and dumped her in the shop's cellar before fleeing with the money, Crawford said.

But police quickly decided her story was "not true", the court heard, with an investigation of her phone revealing messages she exchanged with Stevens in the days before.

They showed the pair were plotting together to stage a robbery, deciding when would be the best time and how to do it, the court heard.

Footage from CCTV cameras showed the postmistress picking Stevens up in her car from a chip shop at about 13:30 and taking him to the Post Office, the court heard.

He was then seen walking to Newcastle Central Station from where he got a taxi to Cowgate, Crawford said.

Stevens, who had more than 80 offences on his criminal record, made his admission on the basis he had been enlisted by the postmistress who he said was being chased for money by the Post Office and feared an upcoming audit.

He claimed she took two bags of money out of the safe and handed them to him, then he had to help her put the cable ties round her wrists before he left, the court heard.

Stevens said he "dropped off as agreed her half", £26,000, at an address in Cowgate, before using his money to buy drugs and pay off debts, the court heard.

He said he believed the total theft to be worth £52,000, the court heard.

Having been released on bail, unlicensed Stevens led police on a high speed pursuit around Wallsend and North Tyneside, reaching speeds of 130mph while drunk in a car he had taken without consent, at about 23:00 GMT on 6 December 2023, Crawford said.

He was held on remand, but shortly after being released on bail in February 2026, he was found with handgun ammunition and a baton, the court heard.

In mitigation, Rachel Hedworth said Stevens had spent two years seven months on remand, the equivalent of a five year four month jail sentence, so was "effectively time served".

She said the trained mechanic had been affected by multiple deaths in his family which led to substance misuse, but was now clean of his main addiction to alcohol.

She said he had "done everything possible" while in prison to sort himself out and was now "loving leading a normal life".

Judge Robert Spragg said Stevens had been a "willing and active participant" in the "pretend" robbery with the "now deceased" postmistress.

He said it was "sophisticated and well planned" and involved the postmistress "pretending she had been abducted" and tied up.

While Stevens was jailed for three and a half years, the judge said he had already served the equivalent sentence on remand.

Stevens, who had multiple drink driving offences on his record, was banned from driving for three years and will have to pass an extended test.

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