Victims’ tears of joy... and sorrow for the ones who died before they were cleared
SEEMA Misra shed ‘a tear of joy’ yesterday after being told her appeal will go uncontested.
The mother- of-two has spent the past ten years as a convicted thief. She was jailed when she was eight weeks’ pregnant, after the computer in her village post office recorded a shortfall that could not be explained.
She was sent to prison on her son’s tenth birthday in 2010. To add to the scandal, a secret internal memo later revealed postal bosses watched her get jailed while hushing up a major report exposing problems with the computer system.
Mrs Misra, 45, of Knaphill, Surrey, said: ‘Thank you very much to everyone for your support. I don’t have many words – apart from a tear of joy.’ Last night her MP Jonathan Lord tweeted: ‘Absolutely wonderful news, Seema. You have been on a difficult and heartbreaking journey, but you and your family stayed brave, steadfast and dignified throughout. You are an example to us all.’
Fellow postmaster Wendy Buffrey gave a thumbs-up yesterday and said the news was ‘wonderful’.
Ten years ago, she was charged with false accounting and theft over a £26,000 loss at her branch in Up Hatherley, Cheltenham. At her sentencing at Gloucester Crown Court, the judge was presented with more than 50 character references from customers, friends and family explaining what an outstanding postmaster she was. She was given community service and ended up losing her home and sinking into depression.
She said yesterday: ‘It feels wonderful to have the news that the conviction will be quashed, tinged with a little sadness that we were not all given the same news.’
Others given j ustice yesterday included Julian Wilson, who died in 2016, and whose posthumous appeal against his conviction will not be contested by the Post Office. His widow Karen took his ashes to the High Court during the recent trial.