The Alicante Court has sentenced a Torrevieja postman to 12 months in jail for failing to deliver 226 letters and packages between 2011 and 2014, according to Spanish news agency Efe.

The sentence, which was passed on Thursday by the High Court of Justice of the Region of Valencia (TSJCV), found him guilty of a crime of infidelity whilst in the custody of documents, imposing a fine of 900 euros and disqualifying him for employment in a public position public for four and a half years. The sentence was later suspended however for a period of three years.

The incidents occurred between 2011 and 2014 when the postman stopped delivering up to 226, most of them aid to be letters from electric companies, government bodies or banks.

The man hid the letters in his locker and when the Inspection Unit asked him to open it, he said that he did not have the key. He later returned to his locker and disposed of the undelivered mail down the post office toilet.

In addition, he committed misdeeds with the delivery of certified mail, in that he left the mail in the mailboxes without obtaining a signature from the recipient, often signing the receipts himself.

There is no appeal against the judgment.