Western Daily Press (Saturday)
‘I’m no longer a criminal now’
West woman one of 39 former Post Office workers cleared of fraud:
A FORMER West postmistress yesterday described herself as “ecstatic” at having her name cleared.
Wendy Buffrey, 61, of Cheltenham, ran a Post Office branch in the Gloucestershire village of Up Hatherley.
She admitted two counts of fraud and was handed a community sentence with 150 hours of unpaid work at Gloucester Crown Court in October 2010.
She also had to pay the £26,250 shortfall and £1,500 towards the cost of her prosecution.
Speaking after she was cleared yesterday, Ms Buffrey said: “I’m very good, ecstatic is the word.
“I’m now no longer a criminal, I’m a victim of the Post Office.
“I think the Post Office hierarchy needs to realise that the Post Office is not a trusted brand.
“It is the subpostmasters who run those community offices that are the trusted people within the Post Office. They look after their communities.”
She added it had taken “far too long” to get justice, adding: “If they had investigated this properly in the first instance I would still be running a Post
Office, because I enjoyed my job
– I really loved it.”
She described how she had noticed shortfalls in her accounts and used her own money to top them up, thinking it would eventually be recognised there had been a computer error and she would be repaid.
Instead she said she was coerced by two auditors and a Post Office official into signing the accounts even though she knew the figures were not right.
She said she has developed fibromyalgia as a result of the stress and sleepless nights she has suffered over the years, which means she in constant pain.
She added: “Compensation is a big thing, I will very happily accept compensation, but this was what mattered to me, getting my name cleared.”
Ms Buffrey said the focus now will be on fighting to help others get their names cleared, adding: “We are not finished, not by a long way.
“I would like to see somebody take responsibility for what they have done to us because they ought to.
“They have put us into prison, into court, for doing nothing.”