A parcels courier jailed for stealing items that should have been delivered to a customer has won an appeal to have his prison term suspended.

Joshua Maxwell Ffrench, of West View, Peel, was jailed for 28 days in September after pleading guilty to a charge of theft. He stole a parcel containing maternity clothing valued at £47 from the Hermes depot in Braddan.

His partner Georgina Kathleen Moore was sentenced to 40 hours’ community service after admitting handling stolen goods by putting the items for sale on Facebook.

Ffrench, 23, who worked as a delivery courier for Hermes, appealed against the sentence, which his lawyer argued was manifestly excessive.

His advocate Deborah Myerscough said a community service order would have been the most suitable and proportionate sentence.

The appellant has a 12 year old step-daughter and a one-year-old son and a custodial sentence would involve grave consequences for the family, she argued. She said it was a one-off offence, the unsophisticated theft of a single parcel of low value.

The complainant had received a full refund and the retailer recovered all but one item, she pointed out.

But James Robinson, for the Attorney General’s chambers, said the offence was serious and although of relatively low value, undermined the entire system of postal delivery which is based on a significant degree of trust put in those who work within it.

’The actions of the appellant undermine public confidence in the delivery system and bring it into disrepute,’ he said.

Judge of Appeal Jeremy Storey QC and First Deemster David Doyle said they were persuaded that the imposition of an immediate custodial sentence was wrong in principle.

They substituted a sentence of 28 days’ custody suspended for 12 months but the appellant was warned if he committed another offence within 12 months he would be brought back to court to be sentenced.