Prosecuted for theft, but I can’t claim damages
A DORSET postmaster prosecuted for theft and fraud has been excluded from winning damages.
Tracey Merritt, 54, who ran a branch in Yetminster, was dragged to court over a £13,500 shortfall in 2009, and was publicly shamed in the local newspaper.
Despite Post Office lawyers deciding to drop her case, she was left unable to work because employers who Googled her name saw the long list of charges. Now Mrs Merritt has been excluded from damages claims for malicious prosecution. She believes she is one of 60 postmasters who could fall through the net.
She said: ‘I lost my business, my reputation, my savings, I lost everything. They should be paying that back. I’ve got nothing. I’m still working two jobs to make ends meet. No one would employ me because they thought I had these convictions.
‘At the last record, there were 60 of us who went through criminal action and weren’t prosecuted. But I still had the stigma.’ Compensation discussions are confidential, so Mrs Merritt is unable to say how much she has been offered.