Post Office inquiry bombshell as at least THIRTEEN victims took own lives

The Post Office IT scandal had a “disastrous” impact on thousands of victims, with at least 13 believed to have taken their own lives, a harrowing report found.

In a long-awaited document Sir Wyn Williams, who chairs the Horizon IT Inquiry, said postmasters and their families should be regarded as “victims of wholly unacceptable behaviour” by the Post Office and software firm Fujitsu. In volume one of his report Sir Wyn estimates that 10,000 people may be eligible for compensation.

He said bosses should have known the system was faulty, but “maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate” when prosecuting subpostmasters. The inquiry chief said that at least 13 people are believed to have taken their own lives as a result of the impact of the Horizon scandal, including Martin Griffiths, 59, who deliberately stepped in front of a bus in 2013. And Sir Wyn revealed 59 others had given evidence that they had contemplated suicide – including 10 who had attempted to do so.

Lead campaigner Jo Hamilton said the Inquiry report “shows the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us”. Around 1,000 people were prosecuted and convicted using data from the faulty Horizon system, Sir Wyn estimates. Thousands more lost their livelihoods and savings, and they and their families became outcasts after they were wrongly accused.

The 162-page report calls for swift action to finally award fair payouts after years of failure. It said close family members must be entitled to compensation. Sir Wyn accused the Post Office of adoping an “unnecessarily adversarial” attitude toward victims and their families.

The report highlighted the tragic case of Mr Griffiths, who took his own life after the software suggested his branch in Ellesmere Port had shortfalls of over £100,000. His parents had contributed all their savings after Mr Griffiths was ordered to make repayments, and his contract was terminated four months before his death.

The inquiry heard he had been “hounded” by the Post Office before he died. “Mr Griffiths’ death was and remains devastating for his wife, children and other close family,” wrote Sir Wyn.

Sir Wyn said it was unclear exactly how many people had been prosecuted and convicted – but said it “seems to me to be likely” that the number was around 1,000. These included Tracy Felstead, who was sentenced to six months in a young offenders’ instution after being convicted of theft in 2001.

The report stated that Ms Felstead, who was just 19 when she took a job at a branch in Camberwell Green, had twice attempted to take her own life. While in prison in HMP Holloway, she opened a cell door and discovered a prisoner who had died by suicide.

Sir Wyn wrote: “The impact upon those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences has been disastrous. The impact upon those held liable for losses which had not actually occured has also been disastrous in many instances. Some of the close family members of many of these persons have also suffered considerably.”

One postmaster quoted in the report wrote: “The impact on me of the treatment the Post Office subjected me to has been immeasurable. The mental stress was so great for me that I had a mental breakdown and turned to alcohol as I sunk furhter into depression.

“I attempted suicide on several occassions and was admitted to a mental health institution twice.” And Millie Castleton, who was eight when her postmaster dad Lee was wrongly accused of having a £25,000 shortfall.

She wrote: “I still feel a burning fear of spending larger sums of money or doing something purely for myself. That nagging voice in my head still says ugly things sometimes.

“It still tells me that my past and my family’s struggle will define me, that it will be a branding on my skin forever. Broken, thief or liar. Even now as I go into my career I still find it so incredibly hard to trust anyone, even subconsciously.”

The report said that although postmasters started to complain the software was producing false data almost as soon as it was rolled out, they were ignored. Sir Wyn wrote: “As the years went by the complaints grew louder and more persistent.

“Members of Parliament became involved and provided substantial report to postmasters. Still the Post Office trenchantly resisted the contention that on occassions Horizon produced false data.”

And hinting that his final report will give a damning verdict on the Post Office and Fujitsu, he wrote: “As later volumes of my Report will demonstrate, all of these people are properly to be regards as victims of wholly unacceptable behaviour perpetrated by a number of individuals employed by and/or associated with the Post Office and Fujitsu from time to time and by the Post Office and Fujitsu as institutions.”

Sir Wyn said it is “almost impossible” to accurately say how many people had suffered as a result of Horizon. But he continued: “I can say, however, with a degree of confidence that there are currently about 10,000 eligible claimants in the schemes providing financial redress and that number is likely to rise at least by hundreds, if not more, over the coming months.”

Subpostmasters were wrongfully prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Some were sent to prison after being convicted of theft and false accounting, while others lost their livelihoods and savings after dodgy software made it look like money was missing from their accounts.

The report said the Government and the Post Office must agree on a definition of “full and fair” compensation. Sir Wyn also demanded that ministers, Fujitsu and the Post Office must publish a report by the end of October outlining a programme for restorative justice.

Claimants under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme must be entitled to legal advice, the report says, while close family members of those affected should also receive compensation.

It also said that a public body should be created to created to administer and deliver compensation schemes for those wronged by public organisations. He said compensation offers should be equal or higher to those recommended by an independent advisory panel.

Many have yet to receive compensation, while tragically some of those wrongly punished died without seeing their names cleared. Campaigner Sir Alan Bates has previously described the process as “quasi-kangaroo courts”.

The inquiry was established in 2020, with a number of witnesses giving evidence on the use of Fujitsu’s Horizon system, Post Office governance and the legal action taken against subpostmasters.