Postmasters must get REAL justice
ALTHOUGH more than 700 Horizon victims received criminal convictions, I believe many more escaped prosecution but were still robbed of their savings and incomes.
My wife and I ran a village Post Office and two other outlets. When an audit showed a £14,000 shortfall, we were suspended and had to recruit someone else to run the Post Office. We had no income for four months while the shortfall was investigated.
My daughter and I attended an interview in Barnsley in 2008, at which we were quizzed on where the money had gone. We said we didn’t know and were warned they would look into it further, with the prospect of us being taken to court. They then asked if we were in a position to repay the money. It would take all our savings but, yes, we could do so a month later. They said as long as our daughter stayed away from the Post Office and the money was repaid, they would reinstate me — so we had to sack our daughter, even though we trusted her. When the Horizon errors were first made public, I wrote to the Post Office and, eventually, it agreed to reimburse us with interest, which was a final offer we could take or leave. We accepted because, at the time, we just wanted our money back.
THOMAS SMITH, Keadby, Lincs.
MANY subpostmasters, including me, were bullied into admitting charges to avoid being taken to court. I have been through the appeals process and it still won’t pay up. The Post Office runs the appeal and acts as judge and jury. I was refused compensation on the grounds that, after 14 years, I had no paperwork to prove my innocence.
P. W., address supplied, surrey.
WE’VE heard little about Fujitsu’s part
in all this. It was the firm’s software that started the fiasco. Are we frightened of upsetting the Japanese?
alan viCkeRman, Grimoldby, lincs. WHY didn’t auditors spot the abundance of subpostmasters being prosecuted? They may say an auditor is ‘a watchdog, not a bloodhound’, but what were they watching?
CHRis Pate, Worcester. HOW could the Post Office’s own books have balanced after it demanded large sums of money from subpostmasters that weren’t really missing. How did it pass an audit?
maRtin sHaRP, london se2. WHY is the National Federation of SubPostmasters, which should have backed its members, not mentioned? One postmaster said on TV that when the scandal broke, it sent back his dues and told him to find a solicitor. We were subpostmasters for 30 years and the Federation wasn’t much help when we had a problem. So what is it doing with all the money it used to take from our wages?
mrs maRy boUnd, llanarthne, Carms. ODD the computers only ever showed missing money, never a credit balance.
James HoRne, enfield, middx. SURELY perjury has been committed. The Post Office and Fujitsu knew their software had problems but in court cases, people must have claimed under oath that it worked properly.
Robin CollieR, Formby, merseyside. THANK goodness there are some MPs around who, unlike Sir Ed Davey, think a meeting with people seeking justice for wrongful convictions might serve a useful purpose. Credit must go to Tory MP James Arbuthnot, while Ed Davey should hang his head in shame.
bill Walton, tamworth, staffs. JAMES ARBUTHNOT was the main MP who helped Post Office staff. So much for caring Lib Dems and Labour.
GeoFF PoWell, london sW18. CAN it be true that many postmasters will have their compensation taken from them by the Official Receiver to reduce any bankruptcy debts they incurred because of the Post Office’s conspiracy to wrongfully prosecute them? I also understand HMRC is likely to tax and/or collect VAT from it. These poor folk should be given their compensation in full and refunded the money stolen from them free of any liability. And Post Office powers to prosecute should be removed.
H. m. macdonald, Chesterfield, derbys.