Ex-postmaster tried to kill himself three times after he was wrongly jailed

An ex-postmaster who was was wrongly accused of stealing thousands of pounds tried to kill himself three times after his marriage broke down due to stress.

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.’

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.

Another former postmaster, Tom Hedges, said his wrongful conviction ‘wrecked his life’.

He told the BBC: ‘I ran a Post Office at Hogsthorpe, eight miles out of Skegness. I was there for 16 years until I was dismissed in 2009 and convicted in court in 2010.

‘I had to wait a number of years until 2021 when my conviction was overturned and frankly it wrecked my life, my family’s life and everyone I knows life. It was the most horrendous thing I’ve ever been through.’

Scott Darlington, who ran Alderley Edge Post Office, said he struggled to pay for his daughter’s school uniform after his wrongful conviction and couldn’t get a job for three years.

‘I couldn’t afford to pay for my daughter’s school uniform. I suffered awful stigma and embarrassment and financial distress ever since and I’m glad things have come to a head and we are able to speak about it now,’ he said.

Janet Skinner was given a nine months custodial sentence after the Horizon system wrongly showed a shortfall of £59,000 on her books.

Mohammed Russell was convicted of false accounting after working for the Post Office for 27 years and had to wear a tag for three months.

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.

Petition starter David Smith, 35, a former software developer from Greater Manchester, said: ‘To me, the removal of the CBE is just the start. The ultimate goal is for the subpostmasters to get the justice they deserve. In many ways, this is symbolic, but it is a massive symbol. 

‘What I’m hoping is that as soon as somebody as senior as her is held accountable at this level, it will start a domino effect that will lead to the justice and compensation that everyone affected deserves.’

But campaigners have dibbed this a ‘token gesture’ and said Ms Vennells needed to face ‘real justice’.

They have said Ms Vennell’s bonuses were linked to figures inflated by postmasters, such as Mr Kalia, having to pay back ‘missing’ cash from their own savings.

Liberal democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who was Post Office minister at the time, is also being urged to return his knighthood.

The Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake said ‘proper and thoughtful consideration’ will also be given on how private prosecutions are undertaken ‘to make sure a scandal like this can never happen again’.

And he said that ‘full and final’ compensation has already been paid to 64% of those affected, as he vowed that securing justice was his ‘highest priority’.

He also suggested that Fujitsu, the firm behind the faulty accounting software that made it look like money was missing from shops, and anyone else shown to be responsible should be ‘held accountable including making any payments’ into the compensation fund.

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