To hope that the Postmasters who were wrongly convicted/accused of fraud are compensated?

[Pottedpalm]

I know there is no adequate recompense for the horrendous stress, loss of livelihood and , in some cases, imprisonment they have suffered, but they deserve compensation and a public apology.

I remember the DM or MoS doing a big piece on this when it all started to come out (10 years ago ?) and when I read it thinking this is all a load of rubbish, the system must be faulty as so many people can't all be having it away with these sums of money. They've been treated appallingly and Post Office employees should be jailed for perjury and Fujitsu ones for incompetence! I feel sorry for the one person of 40 whose case wasn't thrown out ! Anyone know why not ?

I remember the DM or MoS doing a big piece on this when it all started to come out (10 years ago ?)

Private Eye have been covering it since the late 90s. Fuck the Daily Mail;

Don't hope, demand it. Yet another instance of sticking it to the plebs and telling us to suck it up, shut up and go away. My sympathy to anyone affected by this disgraceful and extensive cover up. If anyone's looking for a conspiracy, there's one right here. 14 YEARS!

'Private Eye' ran a very interesting piece about a man currently in prison for the murder of his wife, who also happens to have been a postmaster. It sounds farfetched but IIRC, much of his defence is based upon the fact that Royal Mail supplied the police with incorrect logs which essentially said he was 'logged in', or whatever, at a time when he says he wasn't.

@LobotomisedIceSkatingFan yes i read that.

Disgraceful. Yep I’d want a shit load of compensation if I’d been subjected to that.

Why aren’t the post office being prosecuted?

I’m guessing Fujitsu isn’t looking so honest either right now.

Surely someone looking at a Sudden mass increase in postmaster theft must have considered that a new IT system may have been at fault?!

I mean - he may very well be guilty. And I can't remember the exact details. But it's interesting nonetheless. The catalogue of RM fuck-ups, and the list of victims, is really sobering. They're supposed to be unimpeachable, surely?

Yep I’d want a shit load of compensation if I’d been subjected to that

You'd be very unlikely to get it.

Robin Garbutt was the man convicted of murdering his postmistress wife and faking a robbery.

This is one of the biggest scandals of our time. Numerous inocent people in prison and others who had their lives and livelihoods destroyed. There was absolutely no accountability at the top and even when they knew there was serious problems the energy went into covering their errors up and defending the indefensible. The person ultimately in charge through this moved to other high profile positions and has awards and titles.
21k go no where near to what these people deserve. God you get that for scars in an accident.
There was an institutional cover up and those responsible should be prosecuted.

And for anyone wondering the scale
736 people prosecuted based on flawed evidence. The RM prepared to ruin the lives of 736 people and their families to protect institutional repretation.
Plenty more paid money not owed and resigned their livelihoods to avoid prosecution.

I wish I could boycott the Post Office in protest.

My MP is useless, otherwise I’d write asking that he press for prosecution.

Yeah we can’t even boycott the PO can we?

I’m guessing the wronged will sue?? Via crowdfunding?

Does anyone know what practical things we can do to help these people?

FlyingBurrito

I've just looked up the first one on your list and she isn't showing as being a member of the board of the healthcare trust. Have they recently done the right thing and sacked her?

She lives fairly locally to us and is a governor of the local independent school. What an example for the pupils to live up to!

I remember listening to this last year on Radio 4 during lockdown. I was aghast.

Why have no 'heads' been identified and brought to justice? Is it a case that PO execs move on quickly?

Does anyone know what happens next in the legal case against the PO (or Government)?

Is there a list somewhere of all the names of these people who've been acquitted? An old colleague went to prison around 2004 for this reason and I'm wondering if he is on that list.

@SophieGiroux

Is there a list somewhere of all the names of these people who've been acquitted? An old colleague went to prison around 2004 for this reason and I'm wondering if he is on that list.

Those whose convictions have been quashed are

Josephine Hamilton, Hughie Noel Thomas, Allison Henderson, Alison Hall, Gail Ward, Julian Wilson, Jacqueline McDonald, Tracy Felstead, Janet Skinner, Scott Darlington, Seema Misra, Della Robinson, Khayyam Ishaq, David Thomas Hedges, Peter Anthony Holmes, Rubina Shaheen, Damien Owen, Mohammed Rasul, Wendy Buffrey, Kashmir Gill, Barry Capon, Vijay Parekh, Lynette Hutchings, Dawn O'Connell, Carl Page, Lisa Brennan, William Graham, Siobhan Sayer, Pauline Thomson, Tim Burgess, Nicholas Clark, Margery Williams, Tahir Mahmood, Ian Warren, David Yates, Harjinder Butoy, Gillian Howard, David Blakey and Pamela Lock.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56859357

@ASchuylerSister

I agree. The list of names should be published alongside the public apology so everyone in their hometown/work area can see they were innocent all along.

I think they have been.

This case is terrifying, innocent mothers went to prison, some people died since. I don't post letters much but I do use the PO for parcel sending and will be boycotting it from now on.

Paula Vennells to is to quit her role on the board of the retailer Dunelm:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56882496

Let’s hope she gets prosecuted too.

Someone I know was caught up in this - he handed over all his savings to make up a supposed shortfall - then a further error occurred - he was suspended pending investigations - ended up selling the post office and paid back the error out of the proceeds
Suffered badly with depression and never worked again
Both him and his wife are now dead but I hope their children are able to pursue compensation as I think the amount of money this couple lost was substantial
It ruined all their lives

@drpet49

Paula Vennells to is to quit her role on the board of the retailer Dunelm:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56882496

Let’s hope she gets prosecuted too.

And according to the BBC radio news her position in the church too

Hopefully the start of her being brought to justice

@fiftiesmum

If the system felt money was missing is it possible it was syphoned off by someone high up in the organisation (post office, horizon or otherwise) easy to blame the individual in the shop

I read in one of the Private Eye articles that the error was to do with the Horizon system not adding on takings from debit card transactions to the overall balance.

The BBC say Paula Vennells is resigning the positions she holds, including that of church minister.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56882496

She was CEO from 2012. What about the CEO who was in charge before Vennels took over?