‘Knackered’ postman who was filmed leaving frail pensioner, 72, lying in the snow after she slipped on ice is sacked by Royal Mail
- Postal worker Thomas McCafferty caught on CCTV refusing to help pensioner
- Grandmother-of-two Patricia Stewart, 72, fell over in front of him outside home
- McCafferty was heard saying ‘I can’t help you pal’ saying he was ‘too knackered’
- Postman, 32, was suspended at the time but has now been sacked by Royal Mail
A ‘knackered’ postman caught on camera leaving a frail pensioner lying in the snow after she slipped near to her front door has been sacked, Royal Mail has today confirmed.
Thoughtless Thomas McCafferty, 51, was filmed telling grandmother-of-two Patricia Stewart ‘I can’t help you pal’ after spotting her lying on the ground outside her house in Falkirk, Scotland.
He also also told the 72-year-old – who suffers from osteoporosis and sustained a head injury in the fall – that he was ‘too knackered’ to offer his assistance before walking away.
Mr McCafferty was suspended after door-bell camera footage of the incident emerged online.
But now Royal Mail have confirmed the postman has been sacked.
A spokesman for the company said: ‘Royal Mail expects the highest standards of behaviour from our people while out on deliveries and collections at all times.
Thoughtless Thomas McCafferty, 51, was filmed telling grandmother-of-two Patricia Stewart ‘I can’t help you pal’ after seeing her lying on the ground outside her house in Falkirk, Scotland
The incident was captured on a neighbour’s Ring doorbell and showed the worker walk off
Pictured: Thomas McCafferty, the Royal Mail postal worker who left Patricia Stewart, 72, in the snow after she fell while collecting a parcel because he was ‘too knackered’
‘We regularly remind our postmen and postwomen of the important role they play in their local communities. We can confirm that the individual concerned has left the business.
‘We have also now completed our internal investigation but we are unable to comment further on any outcome for confidentiality reasons.
‘We are sorry for the distress this incident has caused.’
The spokesperson said bosses had been in touch with the customer to express their apologies personally and to update them on the investigation.
It comes after video emerged of Mr McCafferty leaving Ms Stewart lying on the ground in Bainsford, Falkirk.
Ms Stewart fell outside her house on Feburary 11 during freezing conditions in one of the coldest winters for 26 years.
She said at the time: ‘I was really upset, the postman had left me there lying on the ground in the snow and ice. You just wouldn’t leave anyone like that.
Patricia Stewart (pictured), who suffers from osteoporosis, slipped and banged her head as she bent over to pick up two parcels left on the doorstep of her home in Bainsford, near Falkirk
Patricia was thankfully rescued by 22-year-old Hermes driver Karolina Domska 20 minutes later, who helped her up, got her inside her home and called her neighbours for more help
‘If it hadn’t been for the people who helped I would have been lying there for hours.
‘I just can’t get over the postman doing that to me. I had a head injury and he just left me, I couldn’t believe it.’
She had fallen after she went to pick up a parcel from her front door which Mr McCafferty – who was not her regular postman – had left.
She said felt ‘a bit dizzy’ having just had her Covid vaccine the day before, causing her to fall from the top step to the ground.
She was eventually found by Hermes worker Karolina Domska who alerted Patricia’s neighbours and alerted her niece Sheryl Harkins.
Patricia was left with a lump the size of a ‘big egg’ on her head while her neighbours called an ambulance.
Ms Stewart said: ‘The postman came with a very small parcel and I went out to pick it up and I felt a bit dizzy, I had had my Covid jab the day before.
‘I fell from the top step to the bottom and I banged my head, I just couldn’t get up.
‘I shouted for the postman to come and help me and he came back, I thought he was coming to help.
‘But he said ‘I’ve been working from early this morning and I’m knackered’, and then he went away.
‘So I lay there shouting help but nobody heard me and then 15/20 minutes later the Hermes girl saw me and tried to get me up but she couldn’t, and then she said I’ll go get help.
Patricia’s niece Sheryl Harkins, 36, accused postman of leaving her aunt ‘to die’ in the snow
‘She got my next door neighbour and he came and helped me straight away. He then ran and got my niece.
‘They decided I should just stay where I was for the moment, and my other neighbour called an ambulance because it was for a head injury.
‘I was soaking because I had been lying there for so long, all my clothes were soaked.
‘Sheryl got me up onto the bed and I waited there until the ambulance came.’
Speaking about the incident earlier this year, admin worker Sheryl said ‘you wouldn’t treat a dog like that’.
‘He left her really upset and feeling worthless. It is unbelievable,’ she said.
‘When I got told about it I thought there was some kind of misunderstanding.
‘I care for my aunt and I visit her four times a day, but she could have been lying there for three hours and caught hypothermia.
‘He could have told someone down the street, all our neighbours are fantastic they would do anything to help anyone.
‘It is just really so disgusting, the neighbours would have gone to help but nobody heard her shouting.
‘It was the coldest night in the UK for 26 years and he left my aunt lying on the ground.
‘When I was told about this I couldn’t believe it was true, I thought there must be some misunderstanding. Then when I saw the video footage I was just disgusted.’
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