‘They broke me emotionally. I was interrogated like I was a criminal’

Another subpostmaster who will give evidence this week is Chris Dawson, 49, who lost his Pitlochry post office, shop, his home, car and tragically his marriage when the Post Office accused him of stealing £42,000.

“They then whittled it down to £17,500 and interrogated me at home. They went through drawers and personal belongings with my wife and children in the house and effectively broke me emotionally. I was interrogated, like I was a criminal. The computer system was wrong and they initially promised to right it but then hounded me for the money.

“I was not prosecuted despite their accusations but they destroyed my life. Now 12 years later, I am still devastated.

“The stress and pressure of being hounded for months drove me to the edge and I lost everything.”

In 2020, The Sunday Post told of former Edinburgh sub-postmaster Phil Cowan who, along with partner Fiona Mcgowan, was falsely accused of stealing thousands of pounds.

She spiralled into depression after being wrongly accused and Cowan said: “She had suffered previously because of a childhood experience and fear of going to court and jail distressed her hugely.”

She passed away in her sleep in 2009 aged 47, after accidently overdosing herself on antidepressants and alcohol, leaving two sons, age 12 and 14.

Cowan said: “There is every likelihood she would be here today if we had not been treated like this by the Post Office.” Solicitor David Enright, who represents 14 Scottish subpostmaster victims, including Dawson, and 150 UK in total, said: “My clients were and are upstanding citizens who were pillars of their local communities. Their lives were devastated by the Post Office’s flawed Horizon computer system.”