‘Ashamed’ husband died before name cleared in PO scandal
The widow of a sub-postmaster who died before his conviction for embezzling money from the Post Office was overturned has said he was “depressed and ashamed” about the “shame” he had brought to the home.
Williamquarm,knownasbill, died in 2012 aged 69, two years afterhepleadedguiltytoembezzlingmoneyfromthepostoffice he ran with his wife, Anne, in Paible, North Uist, in the Western Isles.
More than 900 Post Office workers across the UK were prosecuted when faulty Horizon software made it look like money was missing from their branches. Around 100 Post Officeworkersinscotlandwere caught up in the scandal.
Mr Quarm had been accused of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from his branch, telling his wife he had “no answers” as to where the money went. His widow said her late husband wasincreasinglysuicidaldueto the situation.
She said: “Bill came home looking like death and crying and saying, ‘I’ve had these guys in bullying me from the Post Office’.”
Mrs Quarm said she believed her husband because he was an “honourable man” and a “good husband and father”. The widow said she had “no reason to believe otherwise”.
Mrsquarmsaidthepostoffice had made her husband believe hewasguiltyandthathisbiggest fear was going to jail.
She said: “Short of being a recluse, he was distancing himself from the family because he was so depressed and ashamed that he had brought this shame on the home. They (the Post Office)weremakinghimbelieve that he had brought this shame on us all and the only reason he pled guilty was to try and keep him out of prison, and it was shocking.
“Every time he was getting ready for court he had to pack a wee bag because we never thought he would be back. The fear in his eyes – I’ll never forget it.”
Mr Quarm’s conviction was overturned on September 29, 2023, court officials confirmed. Mrs Quarm said it had come as a blessing, but she wished her husbandhadbeenalivetoknow he had done nothing wrong.
“My whole world, everything Ihadworkedsohardtoachieve, just came down like a ton of bricks,” she told the BBC. “It’s very hard to imagine what it’s like to lose your home, your life. Ijustknewihadtokeepittogether for my kids – just to live.
“But it has destroyed something inside. It’s hard.”
It emerged yesterday, the Post Office has not disclosed any staff Whatsapp messages to the Horizon IT inquiry because theyhavenotbeendeemedtobe relevant. Chris Jackson, a partner at law firm Burges Salmon which represents the Post Office,toldtheinquiryitwashis understanding that “nobody in the Post Office used Whatsapp to discuss issues of substance”.
In his witness statement submittedtotheprobe,mrjackson said he understands the “profound mistrust in many quarters” of the Post Office following a litany of disclosure failings throughout the Horizon IT inquiry.
A further disclosure setback in November, in which about 363,000 emails were found on a “legacy” mailing system, resulted in witnesses being delayed.
They (the Post Office) were making him believe that he had brought this shame on us all
Anne Quarm