A postman who stole DVDs today said he had fully expected to be jailed.

Stephen Dossett, 35, of Portway, Didcot, admitted delaying 887 parcels and stealing 14 packets and their contents while working at the town's delivery office between March and May.

Today, at Didcot Magistrates' Court, he was sentenced to 300 hours' unpaid community work, ordered to pay £400 costs and £53.22 in compensation.

The father-of-two, who is no longer employed by the Royal Mail, said: "I am very happy it's all over. It was the right sentence. I'm relieved. I was honestly expecting eight months in prison."

The court heard that, during an interview with the Royal Mail's investigation unit, Dossett admitted intentionally delaying 784 postal packets, which he should have delivered between April 28 and April 30.

He also admitted delaying an additional 103 postal packets, which were found in his garage.

Fourteen DVDs were also recovered from his kitchen and four empty delivery company packets from his recycling bins.

Stephen Collins, defending, told the court Mr Dossett, a Royal Mail worker for almost four and a half years, was suffering from financial and matrimonial problems.

He said: "He had about £1,200 coming in and his mortgage was £900 — and on top of this was increasing bills. He was extremely stressed and emotional about that and to top it all his relationship with his soon-to-be ex-wife had deteriorated. He was an emotional, depressed and stressed employee with huge financial difficulties."

Sentencing him, chairman of the bench Alan Stubbs, said: "The value of the goods recovered was low. It was an impulsive action, it wasn't carried out over a long period of time. You were also under a great deal of personal stress.

"We are giving you a chance to get back to work.

"You have escaped a very serious custodial sentence, but we do feel this period of unpaid work will make sure you do not offend again in the future."