Post Office robber denied his pension.

mike65 · 20-12-2008 12:12AM #1

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1219/1229523100695.html

A 61-YEAR-OLD man, a former employee of the old Department of Posts and Telegraphs, claims he has been refused a pension which he paid into for 16 years because of his part in an IRA robbery of a post office during the height of the Troubles

Matt Leen, who had worked as a post office clerk, served seven years in Portlaoise prison for his part in the robbery of Tralee Post Office in 1978.

In February 2007, when he reached the age of 60, Mr Leen, who lives in Tralee, applied for the pension scheme into which he had paid regularly for 16 years while employed by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs as a clerk in various post offices throughout the country. He was told by An Post his pension came to €20,000, plus €170 a week, but the amount taken in the robbery plus compound interest which amounted to over €200,000 would have to be paid back first.

The cheek of some people!

uberwolf · 20-12-2008 12:14AM

yeah, brilliant isn't it.

peasant · 20-12-2008 12:15AM

He should have become a governement minister ...no matter what you do, your pension's safe.

SoWatchaWant · 20-12-2008 12:15AM

Yup, makes sense.:)

KTRIC · 20-12-2008 12:16AM

I love it

He's got some cheek

Silverfish · 20-12-2008 12:19AM

Um, he served his time.

30 years have passed, if they wanted the money back, they should have asked for it 30 years ago, not just 'Nyaaaa, we took your pension'

Earthhorse · 20-12-2008 12:39AM

Silverfish wrote: »

Um, he served his time.

30 years have passed, if they wanted the money back, they should have asked for it 30 years ago, not just 'Nyaaaa, we took your pension'

Most employer pension schemes have clauses whereby, if you are fired, you are no longer entitled to the pension.

Sharpshooter · 20-12-2008 12:42AM

Silverfish wrote: »

Um, he served his time.

30 years have passed, if they wanted the money back, they should have asked for it 30 years ago, not just 'Nyaaaa, we took your pension'

It does seem very underhanded , why not tell him years ago and give him the option of finding another job ?

That's low tbh.

Biggins · 20-12-2008 12:43AM

Earthhorse wrote: »

Most employer pension schemes have clauses whereby, if you are fired, you are no longer entitled to the pension.

Yep, they would have gotten him on that legal technicality alone.
(...and quite right, he was robbing other peoples pensions too at the time but he's wasn't thinking of them was he!)

Earthhorse · 20-12-2008 12:48AM

sharpshooterH wrote: »

It does seem very underhanded , why not tell him years ago and give him the option of finding another job ?

That's low tbh.

I doubt they him employed him after the robbery and his release from prison. Not clear from the article but I imagine the 16 years referred to were before the robbery.

MagicMarker · 20-12-2008 12:50AM

That's one incentive for him to rob another PO.

While I don't necessarily agree with it, I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for him.

uberwolf · 20-12-2008 12:51AM

Silverfish wrote: »

Um, he served his time.

there was a line somewhere today which summed that up for me. He'd repaid his debt to society, but not his debt to An Post.

The bloody minded sense of entitlement people have is unreal.

Big Ears · 20-12-2008 01:52AM

Earthhorse wrote: »

I doubt they him employed him after the robbery and his release from prison. Not clear from the article but I imagine the 16 years referred to were before the robbery.

That would mean he'd been working in that job since he's 15, not impossible but.....

EamonnKeane · 20-12-2008 01:53AM

"Tis my money father, I just didn't want t'fill out d'forms!"

dixiefly · 20-12-2008 02:14AM

Silverfish wrote: »

Um, he served his time.

30 years have passed, if they wanted the money back, they should have asked for it 30 years ago, not just 'Nyaaaa, we took your pension'

I cannot believe all the politically correct asshole do gooders on this forum! The guy is a f*cking criminal and still has the neck to look for entitlements. The only entitlement he should have is jail followed by losing a lot of so called entitlement he could have had before he broke the law!!!

It is crappy political correct stuff like this that is dragging the country to it's needs. We need to forget about the "entitlements" of criminals be it this guy or our bankers that have indirectly robbed us and do right by the ordinary law abiding citizen in the country.

brianthebard · 20-12-2008 02:19AM

Earthhorse wrote: »

Most employer pension schemes have clauses whereby, if you are fired, you are no longer entitled to the pension.

But he was a government employee, different rules. You can turn up at the office for forty years and not do a jot for them and they'll still pay you every week and hand you a pension at the end. He was just a bit more blatant about robbing taxpayers money.

IvySlayer · 20-12-2008 02:36AM

Karma.

Now he knows what it's like to have something nicked off him.

Beau x1 · 20-12-2008 02:39AM

At first I felt sorry for the guy when I read this - but yeah, he deserves it. He was old enough to make his own decisions, and yeah. That's life.

daftdave · 20-12-2008 02:51AM

sharpshooterH wrote: »

It does seem very underhanded , why not tell him years ago and give him the option of finding another job ?

That's low tbh.

and what he did wasnt underhanded ????, its not funny getting ur pension denied, but if you play the game, expect to get played !

20-12-2008 03:00AM

This post has been deleted.

sceptre · 20-12-2008 03:08AM

Silverfish wrote: »

Um, he served his time.

That'd be punishment and potential rehabilitation. Not payment.

L1011 · 20-12-2008 04:19AM

Big Ears wrote: »

That would mean he'd been working in that job since he's 15, not impossible but.....

P&T hired people from the age of 14, so that is entirely possible.

Additionally, as a civil servant of the time, he didn't pay a penny to the scheme himself - it came with the job. This "he pension scheme into which he had paid regularly" line is entirely inaccurate - he didn't have a choice in the matter, he didn't pay regularly in to anything.

Overheal · 20-12-2008 08:25AM

Maybe the IRA will bail him out.

20-12-2008 10:23AM

Silverfish wrote: »

Um, he served his time.

30 years have passed, if they wanted the money back, they should have asked for it 30 years ago, not just 'Nyaaaa, we took your pension'

he was in the ra. scum like that deserve to die old and poor.

Overheal · 20-12-2008 10:25AM

Deleted User wrote: »

he was in the ra. scum like that deserve to die old and poor.

so is this about the stealing for most people here, or the IRA bit.

20-12-2008 10:31AM

Overheal wrote: »

so is this about the stealing for most people here, or the IRA bit.

robbery in this case.. but i also dislike the ira.

i think it serves the guy right, he still gets his regular pension.. he lost a second pension cause he likely abused his position of working in a post office to help an illegal organisation he was a member of to rob a post office.

an post have better things to do with their money than give it to this guy.. or are the PC brigade gonne try prove otherwise?

Overheal · 20-12-2008 10:34AM

Because An Post always pays its workers fairly. Yes, they can blame all those wage freezes on this guy now.

jhegarty · 20-12-2008 10:40AM

Deleted User wrote: »

he was in the ra. scum like that deserve to die old and poor.

You do know that dying old is good thing ?

20-12-2008 10:41AM

hardly a relevant point overheal?

20-12-2008 10:43AM

jhegarty wrote: »

You do know that dying old is good thing ?

well i wouldn't want to wish bad on the guy's health..

Overheal · 20-12-2008 10:44AM

well you say an post has better things to do with their money. Im waiting

Post Office robber denied his pension.

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