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Post Office ordered to pay subpostmasters £58m compensation over false accusations of theft

Former Alderley Edge postmaster Scott Darlington
Former Alderley Edge postmaster Scott Darlington

The Post Office is to pay £58 million compensation to hundreds of subpostmasters it wrongly accused of theft and false accounting which was in fact caused by a defective computer system.

More than 550 subpostmasters brought the group action against the Post Office over the Horizon IT system, which it introduced between 1999 and 2000.

The class action, led by six initial lead claimants, alleged the Horizon system caused shortfalls in their financial accounts, which led to some being jailed for offences including false accounting, fraud and theft, while others were made bankrupt.

They accused the Post Office of failing to provide adequate training in the use of Horizon, failing to investigate the cause of alleged shortfalls and misleading them about the reliability of the system.

The Post Office had vigorously defended the case and said Horizon worked properly.

But on Wednesday it announced it had agreed with the subpostmasters to a settlement package of £57.75 million, to be divided between the 550 claimants on the merits of each of their cases.

Among the subpostmasters who suffered from the accusations of dishonesty was Seema Misra, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2010 after being found guilty of stealing £78,000 from the post office she ran in West Byfleet, Surrey.

She was sent to prison on her my son's 10th birthday and was eight weeks' pregnant at the time, later suffering the indignity of having her baby in hospital while wearing a tag.

After being released from prison for good behaviour after four months Mrs Misra and her family moved house because of the abuse they received in the street.

Mrs Misra told the Telegraph: “I never thought I would go through an experience like this. At what should have been the happiest moment in my life – I was pregnant with my second child – I was in the worst place.

“If I hadn’t been pregnant I would have killed myself. I can’t work because of the conviction – we are living on one income with two kids. I lost everything. My job. My house. My reputation.”

She added: “When you are inside you lose faith in the justice system. Even today I have an insurance claim that is two months old but they won't pay because there is a fraud case in my name. This judgement is a relief. It’s closure and I hope it means we can move on.”

Former Post Office postmistress Seema Misra
Seema Misra was sent to prison on her my son's 10th birthday

Her conviction, along with those of the others, is now being reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission as a possible miscarriage of justice.

Another case was that of Julian Wison, who died from cancer three years ago as a convicted criminal, aged 67, despite fighting to restore his reputation for over a decade.

Mr Wilson, of Redditch, Worcestershire, pleaded guilty to £27,000 of false accounting rather than risk prison and was sentenced to 300 hours’ community service, working alongside criminals cleaning a graveyard.

He had bought his  local Post Office in 2002 with his wife Karen after she retired as a police officer, working from 5am to 8pm every day.

She said earlier this year: “The doctor said all of this did contribute to his early death. Julian was a well-educated, meticulous, honest and fabulous man.

“No matter who Julian spoke to at the Post Office, nobody wanted to know. We started making up shortfalls from the shop takings. But it grew to thousands. I sold every piece of jewellery we had, including my engagement ring, to make up the losses. It broke his heart.”

Alan Bates, one of the lead claimants and a representative of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA), said on Wednesday: "The steering committee would like to thank Nick Read, the new chief executive of Post Office, for his leadership, engagement and determination in helping to reach a settlement of this long-running dispute.

"It would seem, from the positive discussions with Mr Read, that there is a genuine desire to move on from these legacy issues and learn lessons from the past."

Tim Parker, the Post Office chairman, said: "We accept that, in the past, we got things wrong in our dealings with a number of postmasters and we look forward to moving ahead now, with our new chief executive currently leading a major overhaul of our engagement and relationship with postmasters."

In March, a High Court judge ruled in the first of at least three planned trials in the litigation, resolving most issues in favour of the subpostmasters.