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Postie's court lies exposed by Echo

A postman who lied about his father and two sisters dying to save himself from jail is behind bars – thanks to the South Wales Echo.

Michael Jones dumped hundreds of Christmas letters in woods and in court blamed his actions on their deaths.

But all three were alive – and furious – when they read in the Echo how a judge had felt sympathy for the defendant and given him a community punishment instead of the expected jail sentence.

Sisters Catherine Martin and Frances Henderson contacted the Echo when they read the report.

And Jones, of Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, is now behind bars after Echo reporter Mark Stead alerted the Royal Mail, which brought the original prosecution.

Its lawyers contacted the sisters and the case was returned to court where Jones received a three month prison sentence, meaning that he will spend his 31st birthday in jail.

Echo editor Alastair Milburn said: “This just proves the power of the Echo. The sisters contacted us when they saw the original story and our efforts in contacting the Royal Mail and Crown Prosecution Service paid off.

“We had a second great splash from the story and justice has finally been done. Jones had dumped hundreds of Christmas letters and sank to further depths by lying about the deaths of his relatives to excuse his behaviour.”

Neil Evans, defending, had said his client made the claims about his family in an interview with Royal Mail bosses and that it was a “throwaway line”.

Jones told the court he had been the sole carer of his mother who suffered from severe arthritis.

“The only excuse to avoid being released from my service was to say I had lost family members,” he said.

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