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SBS Australia
09-07-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Report lays bare suffering from UK Post Office scandal
It's been talked about as one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice: the prosecution of nearly 1000 people who worked at Post Office branches around Britain between 1999 and 2015, who were wrongly accused and sometimes convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting. The now 92 year old Betty Brown and her late husband were among the victims. Ms Brown has told ITV News she did her best to protect her husband, who was sick with cancer at the time, but they were still forced to sell their business and spend their entire life savings to cover the 50,000 pound shortfall wrongly raised. "Horizon just changed and spoiled everything. I was going to bed at night and I was asleep right in the edge of the bed so that my husband wouldn't hear me crying or feel me crying or anything, and you just had to deal with it yourself." The pursuit of those caught up in the scandal was based on evidence from a defective information technology system called Horizon, made by the Japanese firm Fujitsu, which the Post Office introduced 25 years ago. After false shortfalls were picked up by the software, the Post Office accused branch managers of dishonesty and obliged them to repay the money. Of the nearly 1,000 people prosecuted, all except for 50 to 60 people were convicted, forcing some into bankruptcy, while others went to prison. At least 13 people are thought to have taken their own lives as a result of the situation, while another 59 contemplated suicide. That's one of the findings of the first report from a public inquiry launched in 2021 into the extent of the suffering and damage caused by the scandal - an inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams. "The picture which has emerged and which is described in my report is profoundly disturbing. Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment, and for a sizable proportion, that detriment subsists. Many people have, inevitably suffered emotional turmoil and significant stress in consequence. Many businesses and homes have been lost. Bankruptcies have occurred. Marriage and families have been wrecked." Seema Misra is a former Post Office sub-post master who was convicted and imprisoned. She has told told Sky News the report's findings come as a relief after so many years of upheaval. "It's been a really frightening, angry journey. But it's moving in the right direction now." In 2024, the government introduced legislation to reverse the convictions, and many of the victims have been compensated. However, the inquiry heard from affected employees about significant delays in receiving compensation, and many who had been compensated through the Post Office's redress scheme who said the amount they received was only a portion of what they had lost. Sami Sabet says he lost his job and was put through criminal proceedings as a result of the faulty software. He is among many still fighting for compensation, telling Chanel 4 News financial redress would go a small way to address the damage caused. "The psychological trauma is almost irreversible. You cannot put any figures on it. My health isn't going to come back. My eyesight, my post-traumatic stress disorder is there. I'll have to learn to live with it." Sir Williams says the Post Office's conduct has been unacceptable. "There are still more than 3,000 claims to resolve. And the likelihood is that there are approximately 1,500 complex and standard claims which are either in the process of assessment or waiting for the process to begin." The report has made 19 urgent recommendations, including that the claimants receive free legal advice, and that a program of restorative justice be established to enable individual victims to meet directly with Fujitsu, the Post Office and the government. It also recommends compensation payments be made available for close family members of those affected, and acknowledges around 10,000 people are eligible for redress. The Post Office's chairman, Nigel Railton, has pledged to ensure that all victims are compensated. He's told Sky News he is sorry for the harm caused. "I mean, look, some of the human impacts.. make apologies not sufficient. The harm that the post office has caused to people over decades is just completely unacceptable, and it's horrific, is the only way to describe it. So I am genuinely really, really sorry, but that's not enough." Fujitsu has also issued a statement saying they are sorry for their part in the scandal, that they are considering the recommendations, and are engaging with the government on contributing to compensation. They - post office and government - have until October to formally respond to the report's findings. The inquiry is expected to issue a further report in due course that will address who was at fault for overseeing the scandal. For Mr Sabet, the inquiry - and an ongoing police investigation into the scandal - offer hope those responsible will be brought to justice. "I would very much like to see the people who are responsible for this go through the same as we went through and be punished just as we were punished, but we were punished wrongly, but they will be punished correctly."
Glasgow Times
08-07-2025
- Health
- Glasgow Times
‘Oldest' victim of Horizon IT scandal says ordeal ‘destroyed' her health
Betty Brown, 92, from County Durham, ran the Annfield Plain Post Office near Stanley with her late husband Oswall, in the 1990s and early 2000s. She claims his death was impacted by the ordeal of missing hundreds of pounds each week in their accounts. Ms Brown told the PA news agency: 'We had a nice office, nice atmosphere, nice customers, and everything was fine, no problem. 'And then we were told about this wonderful advancement in technology, and we would get a system put in, called Horizon that would half the workload – which it didn't. 'So Horizon was put in, then the very first night, the balance was £500 short, but they thought something had been missed in the accounts or whatever and that was just let go. 'Then it began eventually that there was so many mistakes in the system that it was concerning, and these losses were coming out in amounts of £1,500, £1,600 every week, and we were having to put this money in and make it good, because that's what you sign up for.' Ms Brown said the ordeal caused her to lose her voice and said the anxiety it caused her husband disrupted his cancer treatment. He died a year after they sold the Post Office, which Ms Brown said she felt forced to do. 'Even my voice today isn't a voice that I had naturally,' she said. 'The stress, I lost my voice, and after retired, I had to go for elocution lessons, to learn to speak again so that people could understand me. Betty Brown, right, said she and her husband had to move to avoid the stigma surrounding her and her husband (Jeff Moore/PA) 'The stress was unbelievable. You would go to bed at night and you couldn't sleep.' Ms Brown and her husband moved away from Annfield Plain to Consett after the ordeal. 'We couldn't live there (Annfield Plain) any longer, because the stigma was there and we kept a low profile. 'We didn't integrate into what the community. We kept ourselves apart. And when people would say to us, what did you do while you were working? 'You evaded the question, and you tried to change the subject.' Ms Brown continues her campaign for full compensation but said on Tuesday, after the first tranche of the Horizon inquiry's final report was published, that she had an 'amazing' day. 'Sir (Wyn) Williams has done a wonderful job,' Ms Brown said. 'He has felt the pain, he's felt the anxiety, he's felt the agony, he's felt everything that subpostmasters felt and he has been able to bring that with all his skill into a meaningful book. 'I hope that the Post Office will take this on board.'
BBC News
08-07-2025
- BBC News
County Durham victim of Post Office scandal recalls ordeal
A woman thought to be the oldest victim of the Post Office's Horizon IT scandal said the ordeal "destroyed" her Brown, 92, from County Durham, ran the Annfield Plain branch with her late husband Oswall in the 1990s and early 2000s and they spent more than £50,000 of their savings to cover shortfalls that did not Brown was speaking on the day the first volume of the report from the official inquiry into the scandal was published - revealing the scale of the suffering caused to hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted over money said to be missing from their Post Office apologised "unreservedly" and said it would carefully consider the report. Overseen by Sir Wyn Williams, it found the situation had a "disastrous" impact on those accused with at least 59 people having contemplated suicide at various attempted to take their own lives and more than 13 people may have killed themselves due to the her own situation, Ms Brown said: "We had a nice office, nice atmosphere, nice customers and everything was fine, no problem."And then we were told about this wonderful advancement in technology and we would get a system put in called Horizon that would half the workload."Then the very first night, the balance was £500 short, but they thought something had been missed in the accounts or whatever and that was just let go."Then it began eventually that there were so many mistakes in the system that it was concerning, and these losses were coming out in amounts of £1,500, £1,600 every week, and we were having to put this money in and make it good because that's what you sign up for." Post Office scandal had 'disastrous' impact on victimsFive things we now know about the Post Office scandalExhausted, angry, heartbroken: Postmasters react as horror of scandal laid bare Ms Brown said the ordeal caused her to lose her voice while the anxiety disrupted her husband's cancer died a year after they sold the post office, which Ms Brown said they felt forced to do."The stress was unbelievable," she said. "You would go to bed at night and you couldn't sleep."Ms Brown and her husband moved away to Consett after the ordeal, saying there had been a "stigma" and that it forced them to keep "a low profile".When people asked the couple what they had previously done for work, they would evade giving an answer, she said. Ms Brown was one of the original 555 victims who took part in the landmark group legal action led by Alan Bates against the Post is campaigning for full compensation after originally being offered less than a third of what she had claimed this year she said she received a new offer of 60%, which she also the report, she said Sir Wyn had "done a wonderful job".She added: "He has felt the pain, he's felt the anxiety, he's felt the agony, he's felt everything that sub-postmasters felt and he has been able to bring that with all his skill into a meaningful book."I hope that the Post Office will take this on board." Chris Head, who became the youngest sub-postmaster when he took over the branch in West Boldon, South Tyneside, at the age of 18 was falsely accused of stealing more than £80,000 in 2006 before the criminal case against him was said he was concerned about how the government would respond to the report."It's a great day for everybody being here listening to it and obviously being vindicated."The problem is, will it be acted upon? And that is a huge concern because it'll take the government many months to respond to these recommendations." Mr Head believes the Post Office "hasn't addressed the wrongs of the past" and warned there was "no trust".He added: "I think you can't get closure until people are held accountable for their actions. But at the same time that is so slow."So what we need to do in the meantime is get this redress paid out to people, get it as full and fair as what has been promised, and allow people the opportunity to try and rebuild their lives while that accountability process takes place."A Post Office spokesperson said: "The inquiry has brought to life the devastating stories of those impacted by the Horizon Scandal."Their experiences represent a shameful period in our history."Today, we apologise unreservedly for the suffering which Post Office caused to postmasters and their loved ones. "We will carefully consider the report and its recommendations." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
‘Oldest' victim of Horizon IT scandal says ordeal ‘destroyed' her health
A woman thought to be the oldest victim of the Horizon IT scandal said the ordeal 'destroyed' her health as she celebrated the publication of an inquiry report. Betty Brown, 92, from County Durham, ran the Annfield Plain Post Office near Stanley with her late husband Oswall, in the 1990s and early 2000s. She claims his death was impacted by the ordeal of missing hundreds of pounds each week in their accounts. Ms Brown told the PA news agency: 'We had a nice office, nice atmosphere, nice customers, and everything was fine, no problem. 'And then we were told about this wonderful advancement in technology, and we would get a system put in, called Horizon that would half the workload – which it didn't. 'So Horizon was put in, then the very first night, the balance was £500 short, but they thought something had been missed in the accounts or whatever and that was just let go. 'Then it began eventually that there was so many mistakes in the system that it was concerning, and these losses were coming out in amounts of £1,500, £1,600 every week, and we were having to put this money in and make it good, because that's what you sign up for.' Ms Brown said the ordeal caused her to lose her voice and said the anxiety it caused her husband disrupted his cancer treatment. He died a year after they sold the Post Office, which Ms Brown said she felt forced to do. 'Even my voice today isn't a voice that I had naturally,' she said. 'The stress, I lost my voice, and after retired, I had to go for elocution lessons, to learn to speak again so that people could understand me. 'The stress was unbelievable. You would go to bed at night and you couldn't sleep.' Ms Brown and her husband moved away from Annfield Plain to Consett after the ordeal. 'We couldn't live there (Annfield Plain) any longer, because the stigma was there and we kept a low profile. 'We didn't integrate into what the community. We kept ourselves apart. And when people would say to us, what did you do while you were working? 'You evaded the question, and you tried to change the subject.' Ms Brown continues her campaign for full compensation but said on Tuesday, after the first tranche of the Horizon inquiry's final report was published, that she had an 'amazing' day. 'Sir (Wyn) Williams has done a wonderful job,' Ms Brown said. 'He has felt the pain, he's felt the anxiety, he's felt the agony, he's felt everything that subpostmasters felt and he has been able to bring that with all his skill into a meaningful book. 'I hope that the Post Office will take this on board.'
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Oldest' victim of Horizon IT scandal says ordeal ‘destroyed' her health
A woman thought to be the oldest victim of the Horizon IT scandal said the ordeal 'destroyed' her health as she celebrated the publication of an inquiry report. Betty Brown, 92, from County Durham, ran the Annfield Plain Post Office near Stanley with her late husband Oswall, in the 1990s and early 2000s. She claims his death was impacted by the ordeal of missing hundreds of pounds each week in their accounts. Ms Brown told the PA news agency: 'We had a nice office, nice atmosphere, nice customers, and everything was fine, no problem. 'And then we were told about this wonderful advancement in technology, and we would get a system put in, called Horizon that would half the workload – which it didn't. 'So Horizon was put in, then the very first night, the balance was £500 short, but they thought something had been missed in the accounts or whatever and that was just let go. 'Then it began eventually that there was so many mistakes in the system that it was concerning, and these losses were coming out in amounts of £1,500, £1,600 every week, and we were having to put this money in and make it good, because that's what you sign up for.' Ms Brown said the ordeal caused her to lose her voice and said the anxiety it caused her husband disrupted his cancer treatment. He died a year after they sold the Post Office, which Ms Brown said she felt forced to do. 'Even my voice today isn't a voice that I had naturally,' she said. 'The stress, I lost my voice, and after retired, I had to go for elocution lessons, to learn to speak again so that people could understand me. 'The stress was unbelievable. You would go to bed at night and you couldn't sleep.' Ms Brown and her husband moved away from Annfield Plain to Consett after the ordeal. 'We couldn't live there (Annfield Plain) any longer, because the stigma was there and we kept a low profile. 'We didn't integrate into what the community. We kept ourselves apart. And when people would say to us, what did you do while you were working? 'You evaded the question, and you tried to change the subject.' Ms Brown continues her campaign for full compensation but said on Tuesday, after the first tranche of the Horizon inquiry's final report was published, that she had an 'amazing' day. 'Sir (Wyn) Williams has done a wonderful job,' Ms Brown said. 'He has felt the pain, he's felt the anxiety, he's felt the agony, he's felt everything that subpostmasters felt and he has been able to bring that with all his skill into a meaningful book. 'I hope that the Post Office will take this on board.'
