Demand for compensation from Post Office over IT system’s faults

The Post Office must not be allowed to get away with ruining the lives of hundreds of wrongly-accused postmasters across the UK, an inquiry has heard.

Former sub-postmaster John Gormley, from Co Londonderry, said there are serious questions to be asked after a faulty IT system saw workers having to use their own money to balance the accounts every week.

Fiona Elliott, a former sub-postmistress in Co Tyrone, said she wants those responsible to be accountable and for prompt compensation.

“We’ve been waiting about now for 10 to 15 years,” she told the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry sitting in Belfast.

“They were quick enough to take all our money and now they won’t pay us back for what we’ve lost.

“I hope that the Post Office finally takes responsibility for their actions and apologises.

“I also want accountability for their actions.

“I would like Post Office to compensate fairly and promptly the people whose lives and businesses have been ruined.”

Mr Gormley was subpostmaster of a Post Office in the Shantallow area of Londonderry from 2002 to 2008.

He described being told to “make good” on discrepancies thrown up by the Post Office IT system Horizon every week of around £60-80.

“As time went on the pressure started to grow, I was getting pretty worried. There was weeks it could have been £100, there was weeks it could have been down to £30 short, very few weeks it was break even and I rarely saw a plus,” he told the inquiry sitting at the Clayton Hotel in Belfast yesterday.

He described a “strained” relationship with staff in the Post Office due to the shortages.

He said it only started to register with him when he saw media coverage in recent years of issues with Horizon.

“I blamed my staff and went into a situation where the business in the store started to go down big-time because the blame game was being put on the staff in relation to shortages, but I always made good every week,” he added.

John Gormley.