Payouts for all Post Office scandal victims ‘by end of year’

ALL victims of the Post Office IT scandal will receive compensation by the end of the year, the company’s chief executive has promised.

Nick Read said “good progress” was being made in awarding payouts to subpostmasters who were convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Many others who were financially ruined – but not prosecuted – have also received payments.

Mr Read reiterated his apology for the scandal, in which dozens of innocent people were sent to jail for fraud, theft and false accounting.

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 2000 and 2014 and forced to pay back shortfalls later revealed to be due to a faulty IT system. It is considered to be one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history.

Many of those accused were shunned by their communities and livelihoods were ruined. At least four took their own lives. Mr Read said the Post Office “was historically too insular and too remote, a business that let down too many of its postmasters”.

He made his comments as a public inquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams prepares to hear first-hand testimony from postmasters whose lives were affected.

“I expect the testimonies to make for uncomfortable listening for the Post Office. But we need to hear it,” Mr Read said. “For the postmasters concerned, giving this evidence will be hard. They have already endured much.”

The majority of the 72 people who have had their convictions overturned have received interim payments of £100,000. A third of those who have applied for compensation because they were forced to cover financial shortfalls have also received offers.

Mr Read said: “We aim to have made nearly all offers by the end of the year as the independent panel assessing each case accelerates its important work. We must ensure that all compensation is full, fair and final for those who have already suffered too much.”

The Government, as the Post Office’s sole shareholder, has been forced to step in to fund the compensation bill. The total has yet to be determined, but is likely to be well over £1billion.