A man who operated a large-scale operation selling used stamps deprived Royal Mail of over £1 million in income, a court heard. Kevin Coatsworth generated £500,000 by hawking recycled stamps on eBay.
The scheme
The 50-year-old purchased chemicals to wash the franking off stamps, then dried and sold them below the price of genuine new stamps. Officers discovered the scheme when they attended his previous Stockton residence on Medina Close in July 2019 regarding a separate issue.
“Officers found chemicals and massive amounts of stamps in various stages of the process,” said Peter Byrne, prosecuting. “Most of the kitchen was taken over by this activity – stamps soaked using chemicals; stamps being dried.”
Scale of operation
Police found 64,856 stamps prepared for distribution at Coatsworth’s Stockton home and another 18,397 stamps at his Darlington address. A text message on his mobile read: “Hi Kev, I hope you are well. Can I get 400 2nd at 18p and 4000 1st at 20p?”
“It was lucrative,” Mr Byrne said. Coatsworth sold more than a million stamps via eBay between 2011 and 2019, accumulating £536,024.86. The prosecution said Royal Mail was denied over £1 million in revenue.
Legal proceedings
Coatsworth, now of Victoria Embankment, Darlington, had created eBay and PayPal accounts under relatives’ names to buy chemicals. He pleaded guilty to possessing articles for use in fraud and supplying articles for use in fraud at a previous hearing.
Ian West, mitigating, said Coatsworth was an alcoholic who had “cleaned himself up” but had liver disease, making him unfit to work. West explained that when his client started, others were using the same technique and Coatsworth “didn’t regard it as unlawful.” The barrister argued Coatsworth “could be taken advantage of” in custody due to naivety and susceptibility to manipulation, and that his cash “went on addiction.” He added: “His homes were modest and, frankly, a mess. They are full of bags of stamps.”
Sentence
Judge Ian Mullarkey told Coatsworth he had been “buying used stamps by the kilo, still attached to their original backing. You were selling on these used stamps as new, on a vast scale.” The judge noted the probation report described how a stamp collecting hobby turned into a commercial operation. He suspended the custodial sentence due to substantial delays in the case and because Coatsworth does not “pose any risk to any person” and can be rehabilitated in the community.
Coatsworth received a three-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was placed on an overnight curfew from 9pm to 7am for three months and must complete 20 rehabilitation days with the probation service.
