Mr Bates vs The Post Office: How Horizon IT scandal impacted Hampshire Post Office postmasters and the new law to be introduced

The Post Office Scandal is one that has become part of British history after 736 sub-postmasters, across the country, were accused of stealing thousands of pounds between 1999 and 2015 after a faulty IT system, Horizon, made it looked as if they had swindled money. Many people continued to argue that there was a fault with the system but others were either backed into accepting guilty pleas for falsifying accounts or were financially ruined.

Within the Post Office contract, it stated that sub-postmasters had to make up the difference for any losses at their stores. The fault with the Horizon system meant that sub-postmasters were being presented with huge shortfalls when balancing the accounts and in accordance with the contracts, they had to pay for the losses. The Horizon system was initially introduced to the Post Office in 1999 and it was developed by the Japanese company, Fujitsu – it was supposed to be used for stocktaking and accounting. A large number of sub-postmasters attempted to plug the financial gap which resulted in many going bankrupt and losing everything.

Currently 93 wrongful convictions for falsifying accounts and theft have been overturned, but out of that number, only 30 people have received full and final settlements.

Within the ITV television programme Mr Bates vs The Post Office, there is a focus on a Hampshire Post Office in South Warnborough which looked into the case of Jo Hamilton who was sacked and wrongly charged with stealing £36,000 following the fault with the Horizon system. The show demonstrates how she was forced to pay the shortfall on multiple occasions when the computer showed an error with the accounts. When she reached out for help, she lost her job and was backed into a corner to accept a guilty plea. In a bid to try and pay the money back, which she hadn’t stolen in the first place, she had to remortgage her house twice, borrow money from friends and family and take £6,000 in donations from villagers.

Jo Hamilton was one of many and Lynette Hutchings was a second Hampshire-based victim of the scandal. The former primary school teacher bought Crookham Village Post Office in 2002 but began noticing shortfalls in 2004 after the installation of Horizon. When she reported the fault in the system, she was suspended in relation to a £7,000 shortfall at her branch. Her witness statement has been published within the Post Office Inquiry, and it shows that she decided to sell the Crookham Post Office after being threatened with legal action if she failed to pay the money back.

She moved and became sub-postmaster of the Rowlands Castle Post Office on August, 29, 2006 but the problems started again when Horizon was installed in 2010. Initially, the system worked as it should but quickly the system began showing shortfalls and Lynette was concerned she would be faced with the same problems. An audit was carried out in March 2011 and she was informed that there was a shortfall of more than £10,000 which resulted in her suspension. Her contract was terminated on April 14, 2011, and she was summoned to Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court in April 2012 where she was charged with false accounting. Following a plea bargain, she pleaded guilty to one count of false accounting in July 2012.

Published in the inquiry, she said: “I cannot even begin to explain how it feels to plead guilty to an offence you did not commit. I had no faith in the system, but I knew the outcome could be more serious if the case had gone to a full trial.

"I feel very bitter and sad about how I was treated by the Post Office. I now find it very difficult to trust people in authority.”

As a result of the criminal investigation, Lynette suffered depressive episodes and her family was forced to sell their home as they could no longer afford to pay the mortgage and bills. She was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work and since the scandal, she was unable to find work and debts continued to increase.

As a result of the scandal, a new law is to be introduced to exonerate hundreds of Post Office branch managers caught up in the scandal. The Prime Minister told MPs: "We will introduce new primary legislation to ensure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated."

Mr Sunak also announced a new upfront payment of £75,000 for the "vital" group of postmasters who took action against the Post Office. The new legislation will apply to convictions in England and Wales and Downing Street hopes they will be quashed by the end of the year.

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said: "This is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history.

"People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation."

The Post Office Inquiry was established in 2020 by retired high court judge, Sir Wyn Williams, and for more information about the Post Office Scandal and the Post Office IT Inquiry, click here.