Post Office owner ‘in such a bad place' she couldn’t look after her daughter

A former Post Office owner said she was forced to empty her own savings account to cover shortfalls caused by the Horizon IT system, and suffered such stress as a result of the scandal that she "couldn't look after her daughter".

Calling into Carol Vorderman’s radio show on LBC on Sunday, the woman, who identified herself as "Sally", said the Horizon scandal had taken a toll on her mental and physical health - and cost her more than £9,000.

The scandal has come under renewed focus following last week's four-part ITV drama “Mr Bates vs The Post Office”, which detailed the events that led to more than 700 Post Office branch operators being prosecuted over alleged missing money from 2000 to 2014 due to incorrect information from Horizon’s system.

It has led to growing calls for those affected to be exonerated and compensated for their suffering, as well as demands for the former CEO of the Post Office, Paula Vennells, to be stripped of her CBE, which she received for "services to the Post Office and to charity".

Sally said the day after her Post Office branch had a Horizon update, she noticed she had a £2,000 shortfall. She says she went through the paperwork and sought help from the Post Office helpline, where she was told it was a discrepancy that needed paying back, which she did.

She realised over the years she was getting more and more discrepancies, which she says she was told she would have to repay. She didn't and, after phoning the helpline multiple times "begging" for help, an auditor visited the branch informing her the total shortfall was £9,000.

“I raided my savings and paid it all back," she told LBC. "Thereafter, some more shortfalls, £100 here, a couple of hundred there. I kept paying it back."

The problems started taking a toll on her personal life. “I split up with my husband, and then I felt quite ill.”

Sally took time off work and had medical treatment for eight months. After returning to work in September 2018, she asked for extra security as she was a single parent running a Post Office.

“In December 2018, I had an armed robbery where I was hurt. I was quite physically hurt and shaken," Sally said. “Then I was practically accused by the post office of causing this robbery because it's not a coincidence I was asked for extra security. I said I had nothing to do with it, but I was in such a bad place that I couldn't look after my daughter."

After putting her daughter in the care of her mother and sister, Sally asked to close down her branch in 2019 and the Post Office sent people to do a ‘closing down audit’.

“At this point, I knew there would be a shortfall because my lottery figures weren't matching up with the post office figures, but they were matching up with my figures," Sally said. "So I rang up the National Lottery winners for the figures, they matched mine."

She gave all the information to the auditor, who told her she should get help by contacting the union.

Sally said she never did. “I haven't seeked any help, I was in such a bad way," she said.

PM wants to speed up compensation

Sally's story is one of many to have emerged in recent days.

At an event in Lancashire, Rishi Sunak - under mounting pressure to respond to the scale of the scandal - said victims of the scandal have faced an “absolutely appalling miscarriage of justice”, adding that the government is looking at what it can do to speed up the compensation process.

He defended the government’s response to the Horizon scandal and said that as chancellor, he oversaw part of the compensation scheme.

Of the hundreds of convictions that came from false accusations due to Horizon, only 93 have been overturned, which means many are still seeking justice for the errors made.

Lord James Arbuthnot, who was an MP at the time of the scandal, told Sky News one of the biggest problems is the small number of convictions that have been overturned, and that parliament need to step in. “We’ve seen the way that investigators behaved and they behaved in a way which was contrary to the rule of law. These convictions have got to be set aside," he said.

Kevan Jones, an MP on the Horizon compensation advisory board, said “a number of individuals” should be held responsible by being prosecuted. Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Jones said: “Look at the evidence in court and the evidence which has come out at the public inquiry. (There are) umpteen charges that could be laid against a number of individuals. That has got to happen."