Hundreds of Post Office scandal victims will be cleared under new law
Rishi Sunak has announced new legislation to exonerate and pay £75,000 in compensation to each sub-postmaster wrongfully convicted in the Horizon scandal.
More than 700 sub-postmasters received criminal convictions for allegations such as theft and false accounting after faulty IT used by the Post Office made it appear money was being stolen.
So far only 93 have had their names cleared.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Commons: ‘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.’
He told MPs that business minister Kevin Hollinrake will set out ‘more details to the House shortly’.
He added: ‘We will make sure that the truth comes to light, we right the wrongs of the past and the victims get the justice they deserve.’
The monumental miscarriage of justice was brought into the spotlight by ITV’s drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.
Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief, faced calls to return her £3 million in bonuses in pension after she bowed to pressure and handed back her CBE.
More than one million people signed a petition demanding she lose the gong over the wrongful convictions of fraud while she was in charge.
Ex-postmasters have spoken out about their convictions, saying it ‘destroyed them mentally’.
Parmod Kalia gave the Post Office £22,000 of his own money after the faulty Horizon software made it seem money was missing from his accounts.
But he was still sent to prison for six months in 2001, causing his relationship with his family to breakdown and to be shunned from his community.
‘It destroyed me mentally, I have copped it up within myself – a buildup of not knowing what it was, no one to talk to, no one to discuss it with,’ he told ITV.
‘I have lost 21 years of my life, no earning capacity. I have had a breakdown with my family, my wife, my children, shame in the community.
‘I have attempted suicide on three occasions.’
This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.