Mr Bates Vs The Post Office: scandal’s brutal aftermath saw dozens die without justice – including four tragic suicides
THE Post Office scandal is widely considered to be one of the most shocking miscarriages of justice in UK history.
The lives of hundreds of sub-postmasters were ruined when computer system glitches led them to be wrongly accused of theft, false accounting and fraud.
This week the harrowing story is being retold in the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which has left viewers appalled and astonished.
It traces the scandal back to 1999, when the Post Office first brought in an accounting system called Horizon, and follows the lives that were ruined in its wake.
Between its launch and 2015, more than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted based on information provided by Horizon, which was later found to have “bugs, errors and defects”.
Meanwhile victims were forced to declare bankruptcy, pay off sizeable sums out of their own pocket, sell their homes, and some even spent time in prison.
Wronged sub-postmaster Alan Bates and five others led a campaign to highlight the miscarriage of justice and took the Post Office to court on behalf of 555 claimants.
In 2019 the High Court ruled in their favour and found Horizon was “not robust”. They ordered the Post Office to pay out more than £58million.
Of the 736 prosecutions identified, 83 of the convictions had been overturned by 2022 – but justice didn’t come fast enough for some, including four sub-postmasters who took their own lives and 33 who died.
Here we look back at some of the shocking stories of men and women around the UK caught up in the scandal – and the damning toll it took on their lives.
20-year battle
Alan Bates, portrayed by Toby Jones in the series, and his wife Suzanne, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh, used their life’s savings to buy a Post Office branch back in 1998.
They became aware of issues in 2000 when accounts showed a shortage of £6,000, which Alan noticed was down to multiple duplicated transactions.
Meticulous records keeper Alan told WalesOnline: “Once I’d seen that I thought, this system is not robust like they were claiming it was.”
Later, in 2003, Alan’s contract was terminated by The Post Office who claimed £1,200 remained missing – a sum that appeared due to a glitch.
It led to the couple losing the £60,000 investment money they had put in to open a Post Office counter in their shop in Llandudno, Wales.
Alan would go on to lead a group of more than 500 former colleagues to expose the scandal and has spent more than 20 years campaigning to exonerate the wrongly accused.
“At 68, I would love to be able to take my foot off the pedal,” the retiree said in December.
“But I will stay involved until everyone from the original group who is entitled to compensation receives the full financial redress they’re eligible for. Once everyone’s received their money, I’ll feel I’ve done my bit.”
Alan was recommended for an OBE in recognition of his campaign work but chose to turn it down, insisting the “job isn’t done yet”. He also revealed his frustration that former Post Office boss Paula Vennells received a CBE in 2019.
He told The Mirror he felt “deeply insulted” that she received the honour and that the Government hadn’t asked her to return it.
Alan said: “She presided over a policy of harassing hundreds of innocent people… What’s even worse is that despite knowing the strength of feeling about it, how people have suffered and some cases died on her watch – she doesn’t feel inclined to give it back.”
Kids spat at
Lee Castleton was forced to declare bankruptcy after being sued by the Post Office for refusing to pay back a ‘missing’ £25,000 and was stung with legal costs of £321,000.
The dad-of-two, played by Will Mellor in the show, called the Horizon helpline 91 times while trying to explain accounting discrepancies that he believed were down to a computer fault.
By 2004, one year after purchasing the Post Office in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, he was fired and had to represent himself in court because he couldn’t afford a lawyer.
After the Post Office’s court win, Lee and wife Lisa had to close the shop, sell their mortgage-free home and move into rented accommodation.
The family’s financial struggles were so extreme that they couldn’t afford to put the heat on and feared their two children being taken away.
Lee described how one of their children was spat at on the school bus and attacked as a result of the incident. It led to both kids needing to change schools.
Lee, who started suffering blackouts, was regularly swore at by people in the street for “stealing from old people” and wife Lisa developed stress-induced seizures.
Lee told MailOnline: “Looking back, I don’t even know how we survived really. I don’t mean monetarily. I mean, literally how we got through it.”
Plea deal
When Jo Hamilton started noticing issues with Horizon, she wrongly believed it was due to her own accounting mistakes and paid off large sums with her own money.
The sub-postmaster, who ran a village shop in South Warnborough, Hampshire, was fired in 2006 when £10,000 was said to be missing.
Two years later, Jo appeared in court charged with the theft of more than £36,000 and as part of a plea deal accepted a lesser charge of false accounting.
She was able to avoid serving prison time if she paid the money back – as part of that, she had to sell her shop and work as a cleaner.
In 2021, Jo – played by Monica Dolan in the show – was among the former sub-postmasters whose convictions were overturned.
People in her village celebrated by throwing a surprise party for her but Jo says the victory was bittersweet. Both of her parents died before she was cleared of wrongdoing.
Jo, who is still a campaigner for the cause, added: “It’s still not over. I was with Alan from day one and I feel that unless he stops, I can’t stop. I can’t stop fighting for other people.”
Pregnant in prison
Pregnant Seema Misra spent four months in prison after being wrongly accused of stealing £74,000 from the Post Office.
The mum-of-two, who gave birth while wearing an electronic probation tag in hospital, told The Sun that her time behind bars was “horrendous” and “everything I had imagined and worse”.
She added: “I was constantly terrified someone would attack me. I’d convince myself someone was going to stab me and kill my baby.”
Seema says she went from being considered a “pillar of the community to a thief” after being sentenced to 15 months behind bars in 2010.
The mum, who served four months, added: “If I hadn’t been pregnant, I would have taken my own life. I was at rock bottom.”
Her husband Davinder, who was left alone to raise their then 10-year-old son, was attacked after her photograph appeared in a newspaper.
Seema, whose conviction was quashed in 2021, says she remains traumatised and added: “They didn’t realise they were playing with my life, a mum’s life, a wife’s life.”
‘Faulty computer killed him’
Sub-postmaster of 20 years Martin Griffiths took his own life in 2013 after being wrongly accused of stealing £61,000 from his branch in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
The father-of-two, who died aged 59, initially delved into his savings to make up the deficit found in accounts before the strain took a toll on his physical and mental health.
The struggles lasted four years until he died in 2013. Martin’s sister Jayne Caveen said she felt the “bloody faulty computer system killed my brother”.
Family members detailed how his “life and reputation [was] torn apart by the Post Office” and branded the events “an absolute tragedy”.
Nephew Samuel Caveen told the Liverpool Echo: “The weeks after Martin died were the worst weeks of our lives… He should be a proud grandfather now as his son had a child last year and his daughter is expecting, but he’s not been here to see that.”
Divorce & health struggles
Peter Huxham served eight months in prison for a £16,000 shortfall at his Devon post office in 2019.
His 22-year marriage came to an end after the ordeal and he was known to have struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues.
Peter’s body was discovered by police during a welfare call in July 2020 after worried neighbours noticed a large stash of unopened letters by his door and flies in his apartment. He is believed to have taken his own life.
Assistant coroner Stephen Covell said: “He lived alone and died some weeks previously, and as a result, his body was badly decomposed and it was not possible to give a cause of death. There were no suspicious circumstances.”
Overdose death
Fiona McGowan spiralled into a deep depression after being accused of false accounting when £30,000 went missing from her Post Office in Edinburgh.
She died from an overdose of alcohol and antidepressants at the age of 47 while awaiting trial in 2009. She left behind two sons, then 12 and 14.
Fiona’s partner Phil Cowan, who relocated to Thailand, previously said he “put the blame firmly on the doorstep of the Post Office”.
He told The Sunday Post: “Fiona may well be still alive today if she had not been facing court for false accusations of theft and died before clearing her name.”
‘Stress contributed to death’
Julian Wilson died before he could clear his name and his widow Karen believed the stress of the situation contributed to his death.
In 2008, the Worcestershire-based sub-postmaster took a plea deal when auditors found £27,000 missing from his branch’s accounts.
He was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and forced to pay back thousands of pounds, which Karen says deeply affected his physical and mental health.
After Julian’s death from bowel cancer in 2016, she vowed to continue to fight to clear her late husband’s name.
She told the Guardian: “He was only 67. I never said that this did kill him but it did massively contribute, definitely.”