Lee Castleton interview: 'Giant step towards justice' for Yorkshire subpostmaster falsely accused in Post Office scandal

The “giant step towards justice” announced by the PM, which will supposedly open the doors to speedy compensation and exoneration for hundreds of victims of the Post Office scandal whose convictions are yet to be overturned, has left Lee fuming.

“Why can’t Ministers, why can’t the judiciary, why can’t the Post Office just admit they were wrong and get rid of the convictions and allow people to move forward?”, he asks.

“Why do they have to say some of you are guilty? It’s like saying in a room of 100, two are guilty. In the public’s opinion you might as well say you are all guilty, as you don’t know who the two are.”

It is the caveat in the Government’s announcement that subpostmasters will have to sign a statement of innocence, leaving a lingering taint of suspicion over hundreds of people, that has upset and angered Lee.

More than 900 subpostmasters were convicted of swindling money on the basis of evidence from Fujitsu’s flawed Horizon accounting system. Some went to jail, many were bankrupted. All suffered appalling stress and public shame.

Four took their own lives; 60 others have died waiting for justice. Just 93 have had their convictions quashed.

Thirsk and Malton MP and postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake told MPs on Wednesday an unprecedented solution was needed, but “as far as possible” they want to “avoid guilty people walking away with hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

He said: “I can’t tell the House that all those who were prosecuted were innocent, whether 90 per cent, 80 or 70 without retrying everyone we cannot know.”

“All we ask”, he went on, was for subpostmasters to sign a statement “that they did not commit the crimes. Anyone subsequently found to have signed such a statement untruthfully will put themselves at risk of prosecution for fraud.”

Lee, from Scarborough, who was played by Will Mellor in the ITV series Mr Bates versus the Post Office, says this saddens him. He adds: “I know others will feel like I do for a fact. They will use it down the line, they will say we cleared your conviction because we had to, but we don’t think you are innocent and they will limit your compensation.”

He won’t have to sign as the legal action which left him bankrupted and owing £321,000 costs after he made £25,000 losses as a result of Horizon defects in 2004, was a civil case. After nearly 20 years battling and a veteran of a number of similar “big announcements” he’s understandably cynical.

As for the August deadline for compensation to be paid, he’s doubtful.

“If you have only completed seven or 11 (of the compensation cases) from the 555 (subpostmasters who won a landmark case in 2019 that found software errors and defects caused discrepancies) in all this time and you have August as a potential end date, I don’t believe with the best will in the world they will complete this in time.

“There’s already murmuring in the House that they may need to extend that (deadline). Whilst I appreciate that it sounds great and things are moving, I don’t think they are moving very quickly.”

Meanwhile Varchas Patel, whose father Vipin was charged with stealing £75,000 from the Post Office and given an 18-week suspended prison sentence in 2011, says his Dad, now in ill health and walking on crutches, has still not received an interim payment.

Mr Patel’s conviction was quashed by Southwark Crown Court in 2020.

He said the only route open now was to either make the Post Office “see sense” with their new lawyers - or a possibility that was becoming increasingly likely - to take the Post Office to court for malicious prosecution.

Varchas, from Oxford, said he still remembers officers coming up to their flat to put an electronic tag on his Dad’s ankle after the court case: “Dad being Dad put on a brave face - but inside he must have been upset.”

On Thursday Mr Hollinrake clarified that £75,000 fixed sum awards announced 24 hours earlier were a “swifter route to compensation for those with lower levels of claim” after former subpostmasters protested against the “out of touch” offer.

He tweeted: “Those with larger claims can still go down the full assessment route and access interim payments.”

Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more if they go through a process of having their claim individually assessed.

Varchas said compensation offers broadly speaking were far too low: “If Kevin Hollinrake and Rishi Sunak lost their house, life savings, business, health and reputation would they be satisfied with £75,000?”

Lee Castleton said he would not taking up the £75,000 offer.

Former Liversidge subpostmaster Alison Hall whose convictions was quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2021 was back at work trying to get back a bit of normality after a week in a media whirlwind.

She said: “I think it’s a bit disappointing. They talked about the GLO 555 (the group who took part in the 2019 landmark case) but didn’t mention our group. Things have been moving at a snail’s pace. We just need a timeline for each group.”

For former Newcastle subpostmistress Sarah Burgess-Boyd, who lost her life savings in repaying an incorrect shortfall, the Prime Minister’s announcement does little to compensate for the disastrous impact the Post Office has had on her life.

Nor does she believe there’s any accountability. In 2009 she was given an audit by the Post Office after she told them of a shortfall on the Horizon system.

She told BBC Radio 4: “I messaged them, I faxed them with all the details. The audit took three days - they didn’t listen to anything. I was suspended and went through the disciplinary procedure.

“Following an investigation I was charged with theft. At the trial in 2011 I was acquitted when the Post Office presented no evidence.

“I lost everything, my business, my savings, I haven’t a penny to my name. I’m nearly 60 and have no pension provision, I’ve lost my reputation.

“It wasn’t a case of you are innocent until you are proved guilty, you were guilty and you had no chance to prove your innocence.

“I watched the Prime Minister’s speech and whilst I agree and I am really pleased they are going to overturn subpostmasters’ convictions and he’s talked a little bit about financial redress and offering £600,000 to each convicted subpostmaster, there are lots of us who were not convicted and who have lost a great deal.

“He said he’s offered us £75,000 - that just doesn’t cut it. I would like to be put back into a position where I would be now in my life if the Post Office hadn’t done what they did.

“I would like that financial stability so I can enjoy the rest of my life.

“I’ve had 15 years of living hand to mouth when I had a thriving business and it’s all gone.

“I haven’t engaged with the public inquiry. I’ve tried to block it from my mind to save my mental health, but from what I’ve seen in the Press there’s still no accountability.”

Neil Hudgell, whose Hull-based firm of lawyers has helped clear the names of 73 former subpostmasters said they welcomed the Government’s promise of exoneration - but were wary of giving false hope to clients.

“Whilst some of the pledges appear hugely positive, the finer detail of how this will be achieved is key. Having supported subpostmasters for the past three-and-a-half years, we have seen how this scandal has impacted on each and every victim, and their wider families, in different ways, and how it continues to impact on them today.

“We must be careful not to give them false hope from political promises only for them to be let down again. Our clients await the review of the finer detail that sits behind these proposals with considerable interest.”

The Post Office’s website states that as it doesn’t have the financial resources to pay meaningful compensation, its shareholder, the Government is footing the bill.

To date £125m has been paid out in compensation. The real-life Alan Bates played by Toby Jones in Mr Bates vs The Post Office reckons the bill could finally reach £2bn.

In a statement on Twitter earlier this month the Post Office said: “We sincerely apologise to victims for the devastating impact of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal on the lives of so many.

“We are doing all we can to provide redress and urge anyone affected who has not yet come forward to do so.”