Did Royal Mail fail victims of groping postman?

Northumberland postman Michael Stewart has been jailed for six and a half years for sexually assaulting five women, one of whom killed herself in the aftermath. His victims say Royal Mail failed to heed warnings and complaints about the serial molester. What happened?

Michael Stewart was a popular postman who, according to the judge jailing the 63-year-old, hid "in plain sight behind a façade of respectability".

His Royal Mail bosses had been told of his behaviour, which veered from wholly inappropriate to downright criminal, but the victims were not listened to, Judge Robert Spragg said.

In written statements read out at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, two victims said they reported his behaviour to Royal Mail.

One said they "did nothing to help" her, the other felt "very let down" that he was allowed to continue to work after she had reported him.

One victim, who we are calling Marie, told us Stewart sexually assaulted her after he had already been reported to Royal Mail, but that complaint was not passed on to the police.

He was taken off her route, she says, while they carried out their own internal inquiries, but then days later he reappeared at the door without warning as he was returned to his round.

Marie is now seeking compensation from Royal Mail.

The court heard of another victim of Stewart's who took her own life.

Judge Spragg said her death was a "direct result" of the sexual abuse as well as Royal Mail's failure to deal with her complaint.

The court heard harrowing detail of how the woman was actually on the phone to Royal Mail when she died, her distress compounded by their ineffective response.

Inquests for her and another one of Stewart's victims who also died are yet to take place.

We asked Royal Mail a series of questions about how they investigated the complaints against Stewart, how they managed him and what information they passed on to the police.

They said they would not respond to individual questions and instead, gave us a statement.

Their spokesperson said: "These crimes were abhorrent and had significant, and in cases tragic, consequences for the victims.

"Stewart abused his position of trust.

"We would like to publicly apologise to the victims, their families and to others who were targeted.

"The protection of our colleagues and customers is our utmost priority.

"Following this case, we commissioned an independent review.

"In line with its recommendations, we implemented changes across the organisation, including a multi-year campaign on sexual harassment and culture in the workplace, new internal reporting tools and clearer codes of conduct and expected behaviours."

The review has not been published so we still do not know exactly who knew about Stewart's behaviour and how they addressed it.

The police have told us there were senior managers within Royal Mail who had evidence which would have helped with their inquiries, but the staff would not engage with them and it frustrated their investigation.

But let us not forget one thing.

Stewart used his colourful personality to commit these crimes.

He has been described to us as "good old Mick" - the local postie with cheeky banter.

The postman from the seaside town of Amble, Northumberland, had worked for Royal Mail for 22 years and was a well-respected local football coach.

Judge Spragg said his victims were scared to report him because of his popularity.

This postman's charisma and confidence was used against the women he abused, did it affect the staff who managed him too?

We understand Stewart was able to carry on offending until the day he resigned.

His victims told him to stop, but did his managers tell him to stop?

That is something women like Marie need answers to.

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