Evri driver ‘used mop to hit customer’s Labrador through letterbox’

An Evri delivery driver has been sacked after he was filmed shoving a mop through a customer’s letterbox to hit her Labradors.

Zoe Mitchell, 31, says the driver, who has been her regular for around five years, was seen on her Ring doorbell app with the mop in August.

Footage shows him poking the hard end of a wooden mop through her letterbox as he glares through the partially frosted front door window.

He then violently thrusts the mop forward to seemingly hit her two dogs Bella, eight, and Reggie, seven, who often bark when a delivery comes.

The recruiter is confused why the courier would want to attack her dogs but suggests they could have caught his hand as he tried to post a delivery note.

Earlier footage shows the dogs barking when the man rings the bell, but Zoe says there’s no footage of him pushing the note through.

She’s been left ‘upset and angry’ by the incident and complained to Evri the same day, however she says the same man has delivered to the house twice since then.

Evri confirmed they have sacked the courier and said that while the driver’s hand had been bitten when making the delivery, his actions were ‘inexcusable’.

Zoe, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said: ‘I felt sick when I saw it because I knew they would be up against that door.

‘Bella would have both paws on the door and her belly would have been covering that letterbox, so I think he’s hit the dogs and it might have shocked them.

‘The dogs could have nipped at him but you can’t see that on the video and there’s a wall-mounted parcel box to use anyway.

‘Even if they did, that doesn’t excuse what happened afterwards.’

Zoe, whose clothes were delivered to her ‘safe place’, says her external post box could have been used so she isn’t sure why the driver chose to pass the note through her letterbox in the first place.

She says she struggled to speak to Evri staff on the phone about the issue that day so passed her complaint to someone she knew at the company.

The recruiter says she was assured an ‘investigation would be launched’ the following day but since then she claims the man returned to make two deliveries while she was out.

Zoe said: ‘It’s just me and my dogs and it’s made me feel very unsafe.

‘If he wasn’t scared to do that on camera then what happens if he comes back to the house now I’ve told people about it.

‘I just want him to be moved so he doesn’t come to my house so if the driver hadn’t been back then I wouldn’t have had to escalate it.’

Zoe, who claims she reported the incident to West Yorkshire Police, says the driver has been kind when she’s spoken to him before and she’s even previously given him a five-star review.

Zoe said: ‘What shocked me and lots of [local] people is he’s been the local Evri guy for five years and I’ve even given him five-star reviews before.

‘He’s friendly to talk to when I’ve been in and opened the door and when I’ve not been in he’s left my parcels in my garden by my patio window to make sure they’re safe.

‘Everyone on the estate has said he’s such a friendly, happy chap.’

She has now taped her letterbox shut and stuck a notice on it telling delivery drivers to ‘please use the post box on the wall’.

Her Facebook post said: “I didn’t want to post this publicly, but I’m now feeling completely ignored and unsure of what to do next.

“It’s not like me to ever put things online but the fact it was done to my dogs and being ignored with no action taken I had no other choice and I also worry for anyone else with pets!

“About three weeks ago, an Evri driver grabbed an old mop I had left near my bins, ready for the tip, and shoved it through my letterbox to hit my dogs.

“In the video, you can clearly see him doing this aggressively, then throwing the mop down afterward.

“He left my parcel in the designated safe place and there was no need for him to come to my door.

“I have a wall-mounted letterbox, so there was no need to use my front door but despite this, he still put the delivery slip through the door! The incident happened after doing this. […]

“My mum had to go straight to mine to check on my dogs, and I’m so upset because he could have seriously hurt them.

“I’m furious that he’s still delivering to my home. I haven’t been in when he’s come by, but if I had been, I would have spoken to him directly.”

Evri said: ‘These actions are not the caring behaviour that we expect from our couriers and we have apologised wholeheartedly to the customer.

‘Unfortunately, the courier’s hand was bitten when delivering to this property, however their reaction to this was inexcusable.

‘We have a zero-tolerance approach to behaviour of this nature and have taken immediate steps to ensure that this courier will no longer deliver for us.’

West Yorkshire Police have been contacted for comment.

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