Confusing "Access denied" message for empty mailbox

[Ken Sharp]

If a new user checks for mail they receive a confusing reply:

"Cannot open mailbox /var/mail/foo: Permission denied"

Followed by one that makes sense:

"No mail for foo"

I'm not sure the first message is necessary, and suggests a permissions problem where none exists.

Remarkably this appears to be new to Trusty; Precise does not print this first message.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: mailutils 1:2.99.98-1.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-55.94-generic 3.13.11-ckt20
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-55-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.11
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Jul 5 20:16:16 2015
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-11-11 (236 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
SourcePackage: mailutils
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)