Post Office scandal's human cost - 13 suicides, cancer and electroshock therapy

Daily Mirror

08-07-2025

A damning Inquiry report has laid bare the horrific consequences for the victims of the Post Office scandal and their families. The shocking miscarriage of justice saw subpostmasters accused of stealing money, based on accounting data from the Horizon IT system which it knew was faulty.
In a 162-page report, Sir Wyn Williams described how innocent post office workers were wrongly accused of theft, fraud, and false accounting. They were shunned in their own communities, faced homelessness and financial ruin and in 236 cases, served prison sentences.
Heartbreakingly, the retired judge also revealed for the first time that 13 people - six former subpostmasters and seven others - had taken their own lives, with at least 59 people having contemplated suicide.
Post Office inquiry bombshell as at least THIRTEEN victims took own lives
Back in 1999, the Post Office introduced a new computer accounting system named Horizon, designed to boost efficiency. But software glitches resulted in false financial discrepancies and the organisation unjustly accused its staff of stealing the missing funds.
More than 900 innocent postal workers were convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting, including village post office owner Alan Bates, who lost £65,000 and would later spearhead the campaign for justice. The faulty technology caused irreparable damage to many lives, with sub-postmasters nationwide losing their jobs, being incarcerated, and suffering severe mental distress.
While the financial fallout of the scandal - more than £1 billion of taxpayers' money - is infuriating, the human cost is even more heartbreaking. Former Post Office worker Martin Griffiths was 59 when he took his own life in 2013, falsely accused of embezzling tens of thousands of pounds.
Having dedicated two decades of service to the Post Office, Martin faced an erroneous charge of theft from the Ellesmere Port branch. The branch's flawed accounting system falsely indicated a £61,000 shortfall.
In a desperate attempt to rectify the situation, Mr Griffiths tapped into his personal savings. His sister, Jayne Caveen, lamented that a "bloody faulty computer system killed my brother".
Sadly, Mr Griffiths' case was not isolated. Another devastating incident involved Devon postmaster Peter Huxham, aged 63, who passed away alone in what is suspected to be a suicide after serving an eight-month prison sentence due to a £16,000 discrepancy.
The ordeal reportedly shattered his 22-year marriage and led him down a path of alcohol dependency.
Assistant coroner Stephen Covell, while recording an open conclusion at an inquest into Peter's death, said: "It is unfortunately rather an unsatisfactory state of affairs that I cannot give any helpful conclusions as to the precise circumstances... 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."
Midlands-based sub-postmistress Saman 'Sam' Kaur endured devastating mental health struggles after being falsely accused of theft by her employer. Her ordeal stretched across three years, during which she fell into depression.
In ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Sam was depicted harming herself in an attempt to take her own life. According to the show, she required electric shock therapy in hospital when alternative treatments proved unsuccessful.
Sam was ultimately exonerated of all charges and joined the justice campaign with the unwavering support of her husband, Jasgun Singh.
Mother-of-two Fiona McGowan allegedly descended into severe depression after she and her partner, Phil Cowan, faced accusations of stealing £30,000 from her Edinburgh post office. She died from an accidental overdose of anti-depressants and alcohol in 2009, aged 47, whilst awaiting her court appearance.
Phil, who now resides in Thailand, 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."
The late Julian Wilson, who managed a post office in Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, was relieved of his duties in 2008 when auditors discovered a shortfall of over £27,000 in the branch's accounts. His widow Karen, determined to fight for justice on his behalf, is convinced that the ordeal played a part in his demise from bowel cancer in 2020.
Speaking to The Guardian, she said: "He was only 67. I never said that this did kill him but it did massively contribute, definitely."
In a landmark case in 2020, the Post Office settled for £57.75 million after more than 550 former sub-postmasters initiated a class action lawsuit due to the Horizon system, which was later found to have software defects leading to financial discrepancies in their accounts. Further scrutiny exposed that Post Office executives were aware that IT glitches might be responsible for the missing funds yet continued to prosecute employees.
A spokesperson for the Post Office said previously: "We have taken determined action to address past events and we are working to reform the Post Office, to forge an open and transparent relationship with the thousands of current postmasters providing customers with vital services in the UK's communities. We agreed a comprehensive resolution last year with claimants in group civil litigation, following successful independent mediation.
"We sincerely apologise to those affected."