Fears are today growing that more subpostmasters could have taken their own lives in the Horizon scandal after Richard Madeley claimed that another Post Office worker killed himself after he was wrongly accused of stealing £20,000.
The Good Morning Britain presenter said he was sending a recorded delivery letter at his local Post Office yesterday, when he got chatting to the subpostmaster behind the counter.
He told ITV co-star Susanna Reid: ‘I said ‘how was the drama for you?’ and she burst into tears. ‘She told me her story – and I won’t say exactly where it was – but she said a cousin of hers killed himself after being accused of stealing £20,000 from the Post Office.’
Prior to Madeley’s revelation today, there were four known suicides linked to the Horizon scandal which saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly accused of crimes they didn’t commit.
Among those who have taken their own lives is Martin Griffiths, who was falsely suspected of stealing money from a Post Office in Ellesmere Port where he had worked for around 20 years.
His family said he delved into his own savings and those of his parents to pay back around £60,000 he was wrongly suspected of taking from the branch. The turmoil lasted for four years, between 2009 and 2013, and had a huge impact on his physical and mental health.
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More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops
The shocking revelation came on the morning show, as presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid discussed the ‘growing momentum’ from the public, as a result of the ITV drama starring Toby Jones
In 2013, Mr Griffiths parked his car on the A41 in Ellesmere Port after leaving a note for his loved ones and took his own life.
Mother-of-two Fiona McGowan also took her own life after she and partner Phil Cowan, were accused of stealing £30,000 from her Edinburgh post office.
Ms McGowan was 47 when she overdosed on alcohol and antidepressants in 2009. Her sons were 12 and 14.
Mr Griffiths and Ms McGowan both took their own lives after they were accused of stealing money from the Post Office
Devon postmaster Peter Huxham died in a suspected suicide in July 2020 after being jailed for eight months over a £16,000 shortfall
Her partner Phil 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.’
Devon postmaster Peter Huxham died in a suspected suicide in July 2020 after being jailed for eight months over a £16,000 shortfall. In that time, his marriage had fallen apart and he had been battling alcoholism.
Recording an open conclusion, assistant coroner Stephen Covell said: ‘It is unfortunately rather an unsatisfactory state of affairs that I cannot give any helpful conclusions as to the precise circumstances of Peter’s death. 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.’
And postmaster’s wife Louise Mann killed herself after wrongful allegations of theft.
Two former Justice Secretaries have today urged the Government to bring in emergency legislation to quash the convictions. The Government has said it is ‘urgently pursuing’ options to fast track a process which has so far seen 93 of more than 700 postmasters able to clear their name in the courts.
Meanwhile, more than a million people have signed a petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE.
Ms Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system.
The petition, which is addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the Forfeiture Committee, says: ‘Evidence has been produced that the Post Office engaged in a mass cover up which led to the wrongful prosecution of 550 Post Office Staff many of whom were subsequently jailed, bankrupted and in some cases, sadly took their own lives.
‘Having been handed a CBE for services to the Post Office, and moved out into other senior positions in government and healthcare, it is only right that this award is now withdrawn through the process of forfeiture.’
Meanwhile, more than a million people have signed a petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE
Pressure is also mounting on Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey over his role in the scandal, having been postal affairs minister during the coalition government between 2010 and 2012.
The Sunday Times published a cache of correspondence between Alan Bates, a former sub-postmaster, and ex-ministers from the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition government – including Sir Ed.
Tory Treasury minister Bim Afolami said Government is working ‘incredibly hard’ to make sure that justice is done ‘as quickly as possible’ for postmasters wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal.
He said Sir Ed should ‘be honest with people’ and explain why as a minister ‘he didn’t ask the right questions’.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.
The Post Office minister vowed to leave ‘no stone unturned’ to get speedy justice for hundreds of postmasters wrongly convicted during the Horizon scandal, it was revealed today.
Whitehall sources said there could be a change in the law to allow the huge backlog of cases to be considered ‘en masse’ rather than individually. Discussions were taking place with ‘senior figures in the judiciary’.
In the Commons, Kevin Hollinrake said the change could ‘unlock’ compensation claims for hundreds of former postmasters who had their lives wrecked by false claims that they stole money from the Post Office.
He praised the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office for bringing the scandal to a ‘much broader audience’ and for highlighting the ‘brutal approach’ taken by the Post Office.
Mr Hollinrake, the Minister for the Post Office making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons, London, on Horizon compensation and convictions
Former postmaster Alan Bates, who is portrayed by Toby Jones in the new drama, led and won the initial legal battle after himself falling victim to the faults
He said the series, which has triggered an outpouring of public anger, had ‘only reinforced our zeal for seeing justice done as quickly as possible’.
Mr Hollinrake said achieving justice for those wronged was now his ‘highest priority’ and hinted that new measures to overturn convictions could be introduced within days.
‘I’m sorry I can’t be a little more precise in my timescales but I’d be very disappointed if we went past the end of this week in terms of giving more information to the House,’ he said, before adding: ‘The time for quibbling is over.’
Such laws to quash the remaining convictions ‘could be done tomorrow’, two former lord chancellors said last night.
In a letter to The Times, Sir Robert Buckland wrote: ‘We should recognise these exceptional circumstances by asking Parliament to pass legislation … Such legislation would help to right a clear wrong.
‘Too many subpostmasters have already died without seeing justice being done, so there is no more time to be lost.’
Lord Falconer of Thoroton, justice secretary under Tony Blair, said: ‘The Government could introduce that [legislation] tomorrow and there would be no resistance in Parliament.’
Postmasters whose convictions are overturned are entitled to interim compensation worth £163,000. They can then opt to accept an offer of £600,000 or seek to have their individual case examined.
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is seen leaving her local village church in February 2022
Mr Hollinrake said: ‘When we talk about compensation, we have to remember that the lives of postmasters and their families caught up in this scandal have been irrevocably changed.
‘They have faced financial ruin, untold personal distress, and a loss of reputation that no amount of financial compensation nor promises of lessons learned can fully restore.
‘The Government recognises, however, that we have a clear moral duty to right these wrongs to the best of our ability.’ In total some £148million has been paid out but the final bill is expected to be many times higher.
The minister suggested that Fujitsu, which supplied the Horizon software at the heart of the scandal, could be asked to help fund the compensation if the firm is found culpable by an ongoing public inquiry.
‘We have been clear that it should not be the taxpayer alone that picks up the tab,’ said Mr Hollinrake.
Former Cabinet minister Sir David Davis said the Post Office should be stripped of its power to bring prosecutions and barred from hiring expensive lawyers to challenge compensation claims.
He also called for criminal prosecutions against the ‘real villains’ of the scandal, adding: ‘We know who they are.’
Mr Hollinrake said the Post Office had ‘quite rightly’ decided to stop bringing private prosecutions some years ago.
But he added that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk was now examining if it should be stripped of its right to do so.
Labour’s business spokesman Jonathan Reynolds said the party would back efforts to accelerate the process for exonerating the postmasters.
‘It is unconscionable that convictions remain where it is clear no wrongdoing was committed,’ he added.
Kevin Hollinrake told MPs the Government was urgently pursuing options to fast track a process which has so far seen just 93 of more than 700 postmasters able to clear their names in the courts
Mrs Hamilton is one the stars of a new ITV drama about the Post Office Horizon scandal called Mr Bates vs The Post Office. Pictured: Mrs Hamilton played by actor Monica Dolan
Mr Hollinrake suggested that former Post Office boss Paula Vennells should hand back her CBE voluntarily after being at the helm ‘during a critical time’.
Labour MP Andrew Gwynne also urged Ms Vennells to surrender her honour. He added that ‘heads have to roll because lives have been destroyed’.
Rishi Sunak last night also weighed in behind efforts to strip former Ms Vennells of her CBE.
Downing Street said he would ‘strongly support’ an investigation by the honours forfeiture committee into whether Mrs Vennells should lose the gong awarded for ‘services to the Post Office and to charity’.
Mr Sunak said yesterday the treatment of the postmasters over two decades had been ‘an absolutely appalling miscarriage of justice’.
On a visit to Accrington in Lancashire, the PM added: ‘The stories are appalling, people were treated absolutely appallingly. That’s wrong and we should do everything we can to make it right.’
He pointed out that as chancellor he had approved the compensation scheme which has now paid out almost £150million to thousands of victims, saying: ‘People should know that we are on it and we want to make this right. The money’s been set aside.
‘What we are now looking at is how can we speed all of that up? We want to get that [money] out of the door as quickly as possible.
‘It was simply wrong what happened. They shouldn’t have been treated like this, and we should do everything we can to make it right for them.’
Despite outrage at the time, it has had to take the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, to kick ministers into action to overturn hundreds of wrongful convictions that still stand.
Mrs Vennells, 65, has been accused of playing a leading role in covering up IT flaws behind the miscarriage of justice. She apologised for the scandal after some postmasters overturned their convictions at the Court of Appeal, but has been silent on calls for her to return her CBE.
Ministers have been told they should consider life sentences in prison for those found ultimately responsible for the Horizon scandal.
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