The Post Office scandal is coming under renewed scrutiny following a TV drama into how a computerised accounting system ruined the lives for many staff and their families.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software – called Horizon – made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and postal minister Kevin Hollinrake will discuss the scandal in 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 at the time of the scandal, told 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, number.”
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
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 played by actor Ifan Huw Dafydd.
While Mr Thomas is glad more people know what happened to him, he told Sky News some scenes were difficult to relive.
He said: “Going into the cell hit me. Because, unfortunately, I was sent to Walton [a prison in Liverpool].
“Thank heavens I was only there for two 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 rest of the time I was locked up.”
Mr Thomas said he has “discussed very little about being inside” with his family.
“I’ve kept it more or less to myself, and the way I’ve dealt with it is we live in a lovely place in Anglesey and…
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2024-01-08 10:08:00
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