UK Edition
Parish councillor caught on camera stealing neighbour's letters before dumping them in her recycling bin
A villager set up a camera to capture the identity of the mystery thief stealing letters from his postbox - only discover it was his neighbour, a respected local councillor.
Michael Umphray, 65, was puzzled as to why mail had been going missing from the box set on the wall outside his gated home for weeks.
But when he lay in wait to capture the culprit on film who had struck over the previous five weeks, he was shocked to see Joy Harbottle.
A 44-second video clip recorded on his phone captures Mrs Harbottle, a parish councillor sitting on a safer neighbourhood committee, approaching his home shortly after a postman put a letter into his postbox.
She is seen looking around, and at one point directly into the camera, before lifting the mailbox lid and pulling out a large letter.
She then stuffs the letter under her T-shirt before walking away in the village of Kings Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, in Sherwood Forest.
Mr Umphray said he had been told by the police that Cllr Harbottle was "simply putting the letters into her own recycling bin".
Nottinghamshire Police confirmed the force had been called and had spoken to Cllr Harbottle over the theft of letters. A spokesman said the "person involved has been seen by police and given advice".
Locals are now calling for Cllr Harbottle to step down from Kings Clipstone Village Council, where she also serves on the safer neighbourhood committee, liaising with officers about local crime issues.
Cllr Harbottle initially refused to comment on the issue, but later said: "We all do stupid things. I did a stupid thing which I dearly regret and which I apologise for. This incident was resolved weeks ago with no further action being taken."
She did not provide any explanation for her actions, but when asked if she would step down from her role on the council, she said; "I'm considering the future."
Mr Umphray said: "I was just shocked by what I saw, it speaks for itself. She came along 10 minutes after the postman had been.
"We have never been that neighbourly, and she was never rude to us but I don't know why she would do this.
"We never approached her, we knew straight away that it was a police matter, although we didn't want to press charges because we have to live next door to her."
Mr Umphray, who has lived with his wife in their detached house next to Cllr Harbottle's property for more than 10 years, said: "I knew that something was happening to my post because I get specific work instructions posted to me every Thursday and they were not arriving.
"One day I saw the postman put our mail in the letterbox as I was taking the dog for a walk. When I came back to pick it up a few minutes later it was gone so I decided to film the mail box to find out what was going on.
"There was a lock on the mailbox and you can see in the video that she gets out a big brown envelope but can't reach any of the other letters.
"We went straight to the police and they told us that she was simply putting the letters into her own recycling bin."
He said he cannot understand the actions of Cllr Harbottle.
He said: "She wanted to write an apology letter, but I told the police that we didn't want an apology letter - it would just be a slap in the face. My wife wanted a face-to-face apology but we haven't got that."
Mr and Mrs Umphray, who have two grown-up sons, decided not to press charges following the theft - which lasted for at least five weeks.
Mr Umphray said: "We still have to continue living next door to Mrs Harbottle and we don't want to make it anymore difficult.
"We've never been particularly friendly but I can't understand why she would have done this. Thankfully it hasn't happened since we reported it in early August."
Michelle Bradley, vice chairman of Kings Clipstone Village Council, spoke out in support of Cllr Harbottle.
Ms Bradley said: "Joy has spent hours doing work for this parish council and is a real hard worker.
"She attends neighbourhood watch meetings and has spent hours litter picking. It happened, you can't deny it happened but I am sorry for Joy because this is one blip in a lifetime.
"Joy was very instrumental in establishing the parish council and, at the end of the day, we will weather this."
A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman said: "Nottinghamshire Police were informed on 27 July 2016, of a report of theft in Archway Road, Old Clipstone.
"It related to the theft of letters. The person involved has been seen by police and given advice."