Postman who left elderly woman lying in snow sacked by Royal Mail
Other Royal Mail workers said he had 'tarnished' the reputation of the local depot.
A disgraced postman who abandoned a pensioner laying in the snow after a fall has now been sacked.
Thomas McCafferty, 51, was doing his postal rounds in Falkirk, Scotland, when he spotted Patricia Stewart, 72, on the ground in front of her home, desperately trying to get up.
Rather than help the elderly woman, who was unable to stand up on her own, he walked away without calling for assistance, claiming he was ‘absolutely knackered’.
The shocking incident in February was caught on a neighbour’s doorbell camera.
Footage shows the Royal Mail worker looking down at the gran-of-two saying ‘I can’t help you pal’ – despite her pleas for assistance.
Luckily, a Hermes delivery driver arrived shortly after Mr McCafferty and, with the help of a neighbour, got the pensioner up from the snow-covered path.
The footage was later shared on Facebook by Ms Stewart’s niece Sheryl Harkins, who wrote: ‘Here’s our postman this morning, my aunt had fallen and was lying on the path in the snow!
‘If you listen closely you will here the postman telling my aunt, “I can’t help you pal I’ve been out working since x time this morning in this weather” and walks away leaving a 72yr old lady lying in the snow!
‘I honestly don’t have the words for how disgusting this is, for a human being to treat another human being in this manner words fail me.’
Calls for Mr McCafferty to be sacked mounted from the disgusted Falkirk community, while other postmen also argued he had ‘tarnished’ the reputation of the local Royal Mail depot.
One former postman in the area told The Sun Online at the time: ‘I’m ashamed and embarrassed, I could never do that to anybody.
‘There’s 120 posties up there [at the local depot], and we’re all tarnished with the same brush.
‘We’re doing a lot of good, but he’s let us down big style, big big style. I don’t think any human being should behave like that.’
A spokesperson for Royal Mail told Metro.co.uk that its internal investigation into the incident has now been completed.
They added: ‘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. We have been in touch with the customer concerned to express our apologies again and to update them following the conclusion of the investigation.’
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