Ex-postmistress who was jailed in Horizon scandal moves Nicky Campbell to tears
A sub-postmistress who was jailed after the Horizon scandal has revealed her story on BBC Radio 5 for the first time.
Karen Jolliffe, 77, told Nicky Campbell about her ‘nightmare’ time in prison, after being inspired by ‘brave’ ex-Post Office staff.
More than 130 potential victims have already come forward after the scandal was reignited by a television series documenting the events.
For two decades, Ms Jolliffe had been running her Post Office, until the Horizon system was put in place in 2000.
When the new system showed she was thousands of pounds in loss, rather than confronting the Post Office, she said she concealed it because she ‘wasn’t brave’ like the others.
She said: ‘I hid it and moved money around from the shop to the Post Office for about 18 months, two years. I knew I was going to be audited and when they came out I just confessed. It never entered my head it could be Horizon.’
Despite not understanding where the money had gone, Ms Jolliffe pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison – three months of which she served in custody, with an additional three months spent fitted with a security tag.
She added: ‘My grandson was eight. He was bullied at school. On the whole, my family stood by me, and the people who came in my shop. They wrote to me when I was in prison, I had so many letters, so I was lucky in that respect.
‘I just felt that all of you, all you postmasters were wonderful. I’ve only just watched it last night because I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. I watched all of it last night.
‘If it wasn’t for you, people like me wouldn’t be saying that. You’re very brave and I wish I was braver.’
Mr Campbell was seen tearing up after hearing Ms Jolliffe’s story.
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak 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.
Mr 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.’
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