The Post Office scandal is coming underneath renewed scrutiny following a TV drama into how a computerised accounting system ruined the lives for a lot of workers and their households.
More than 700 Post Office department managers got prison convictions after defective Fujitsu accounting software program – known as Horizon – made it seem as if cash was lacking from their retailers.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and postal minister Kevin Hollinrake will focus on the scandal within the wake of renewed scrutiny following the conclusion of the four-part ITV drama, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.
Lord Arbuthnot, who was an MP on the time of the scandal, informed Sky News: “One of the greatest problems is that there have been between 700 and 900 convictions of sub-postmasters and only 93 have been overturned.
“That is an awfully small, pathetically small, quantity.”
Latest updates – sub-postmasters ‘failed by virtually every sector of society’
Here, we look at some of the circumstances and responses of some of the victims of the Horizon scandal.
Noel Thomas
The 77-year-old from Anglesey was a former sub-postmaster who was wrongfully convicted.
His conviction of false accounting in 2006 was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2021.
In the ITV drama, which ended on Thursday, Mr Thomas was performed by actor Ifan Huw Dafydd.
While Mr Thomas is glad extra folks know what occurred to him, he informed Sky News some scenes had been troublesome to relive.
He mentioned: “Going into the cell hit me. Because, unfortunately, I was sent to Walton [a prison in Liverpool].
“Thank heavens I used to be solely there for 2 days.
“But I was locked up. I was only let out to get food. Half an hour at lunchtime and half an hour to three quarters at night.
“The remainder of the time I used to be locked up.”
Mr Thomas said he has “mentioned little or no about being inside” with his family.
“I’ve saved it kind of to myself, and the best way I’ve handled it’s we dwell in a beautiful place in Anglesey and we exit and stroll quite a bit,” he said.
“I’ve spoken with a few of my buddies – they have been shocked to see what’s come out.”
Seema Misra
Initially discovered responsible of stealing £75,000 from the submit workplace she ran in West Byfleet, Surrey – Seema Misra’s conviction was later quashed by judges on the Court of Appeal.
She was wrongly jailed on her son’s tenth birthday and informed Sky News she solely resisted suicide as a result of she was pregnant with one other little one.
“We had been trying for another baby for seven or eight years so it should have been the happiest moment for us,” she mentioned.
“Instead, prison was the worst experience of my life.
“If this factor can occur to me, we’re not dwelling in the suitable world.”
Jo Hamilton
The sub-postmistress in South Warnborough, Hampshire, previously told Sky News of the pressure she faced to plead guilty.
She said she felt “backed right into a nook”.
“I felt I had a gun held to my head and had no alternative,” added Ms Hamilton.
“They mentioned if I pleaded responsible to false accounting and paid the £36,000 shortfall, they’d drop the theft cost.”
Ms Hamilton was played in the ITV drama by Monica Dolan.
“I used to be so petrified of going to jail, I could not consider anything. It was terrifying,” Ms Hamilton added.
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Martin Griffiths
The father of two, was pursued by the Post Office for alleged shortfalls of £60,000.
The third episode of the TV drama reveals how the institution of a mediation scheme got here too late for him as he took his personal life.
Baljit Sethi
In February 2022, firstly of the general public inquiry into how tons of of Post Office workers had been wrongly prosecuted, Baljit Sethi informed how he thought-about taking his personal life.
He ran a submit workplace close to Romford, Essex, for 22 years till he was sacked over account shortfalls.
He informed the listening to: “I was down and out, I contemplated suicide, but I thought no, that’s the easy way out, what about my family and my children?
“People in our group believed we had been robbing from the Post Office.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can name Samaritans for assistance on 116 123 or e-mail [email protected] within the UK. In the US, name the Samaritans department in your space or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Source: information.sky.com”