Trauma of Post Office victims/survivors and families documented in new study

The report, which was based on interviews with 26 former sub-postmasters, six of their partners, two of their children and one sibling, found that their and their families’ lives continue to be very badly affected by the scandal.

The Post Office's Horizon IT computer scandal is widely regarded as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses and others were prosecuted for offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting, with some going to prison. Thousands more lost their businesses, livelihoods and homes due to wrongful accusations made by the Post Office.

It later emerged that a faulty computer system, called Horizon, as well as corporate incompetence and potentially problematic lawyering, were to blame. The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is due to report back later this year.

Last year, ITV broadcast a Bafta-winning drama about the scandal, called Mr Bates vs The Post Office, prompting a public outcry.

Now a report co-written by Dr Karen Nokes (UCL Faculty of Laws) and Dr Sally Day, Professor Richard Moorhead and Professor Rebecca Helm from the University of Exeter, as part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded Post Office Project, has revealed the full scale of the victims’ and their families’ suffering.

The authors of the report, called Understanding the Impacts of the Post Office Scandal, are calling for a “rethink” of how miscarriages of justice are dealt with, both from a political and legal perspective.

Concerns about proper and fair compensation were critical for many of the sub-postmasters interviewed, but their concerns were also much broader and included for many:

• Wanting to see criminal convictions for those involved from the Post Office.
• Those involved being barred from holding senior management or oversight roles in future.
• Financial consequences, such as paying back bonuses or losing pensions.
• Lawyers involved in their prosecutions to be struck off.
• Participation in meaningful restorative justice.

Dr Nokes said: “Many sub-postmasters went from being highly respected and central to their local community to being publicly vilified, and labelled a thief, for something they hadn’t done.

“Some experienced aggressive and distressing harassment and victimisation, including being spat at, and receiving abusive letters, phone calls and emails.

“There were clear ‘ripple effects’ – the reputational damage often extended to their families and people affected couldn’t get away from the stigma.”

The report shows how the trauma of the Post Office’s misconduct has rippled out through victims families’ lives and how many have been revictimised at each stage of their fight for justice. It lays bare how the stigma of false accusation and financial ruin devastated the lives of sub-postmasters and those close to them.

It also shows how having to engage with an adversarial legal system to fight for justice, and bureaucratic and slow redress schemes, have often caused secondary and re-victimisation.

Many hoped for better systems of oversight in large organisations in the future, so a similar scandal couldn’t happen again, or legislative changes around companies keeping computer evidence and having a duty of candour (the Hillsborough Law), and individuals facing personal liability. Several spoke of prohibiting private prosecutions.

Those who took part in the research said the scandal had fundamentally changed them. It had often damaged relationships with partners, children, friends, other family members, and wider communities.

Symptoms included anxiety attacks, gaps in memory, insomnia, hallucinations and night tremors. Some detailed the daily difficulties of living with PTSD, such as seeing someone who “looked like the investigator” they had.

Many were experiencing ‘survivor guilt’, but have found solace and comfort in the solidarity they have with other victims and survivors. This has been vital to morale and saved lives, the report found. 

Dr Day said: “We would like to express our deepest and heartfelt thanks to all those who agreed to help us in this project.

“What is clear from our interviews is the complex harms experienced by those affected and their loved ones. We found adversity and sacrifice, but also stories of determination, hope, and solidarity.”

Some of the victims ran post offices in small communities, such as villages and small towns, and were vilified by their neighbours in the wake of the false allegations, some even being forced to leave the area.

One of the sub-postmasters interviewed for the report said: “I had to move away from the area because…the first morning after I was suspended and I walked down the street to get my newspaper, a gentleman that used to come in for his pension, he looked at me and he didn’t even answer, I said, ‘good morning,’ and he spat at me, straight in my face and he said, ‘We’re going to lose my post office,’ with a mouth full of other obscene words, ‘because of you.’ I thought, Jesus, is this what I’m getting, so I had no choice then.”

Some participants experienced aggressive, and at times violent, harassment.

Examples cited in the report included having posters of themselves with accusations printed on put up around their community, trespassing and damage to their properties, graffiti and having their windows smashed.

Others also spoke about being “spat at” and some said they got threatening letters, phone calls, and emails. Some of the victims experienced racism and intimidation.

The study is the latest in a series of groundbreaking reports to be produced by the Post Office Project. Last November, at the Royal Society in London, the project was awarded ESRC’s prestigious 2024 Celebrating Impact Prize for Outstanding Societal Impact.

The prize, then in its 12th year, honours researchers funded by the ESRC for their exceptional contributions to creating economic or societal impact through their work.

Links

• Understanding the Impacts of the Post Office Scandal report
• The Post Office Project
• Dr Karen Nokes's academic profile
• UCL Faculty of Laws
• Economic and Social Research Council
• UK Research and Innovation

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