Lee Castleton: Post Office scandal campaigner proud to receive an OBE for services to justice
A leading subpostmaster campaigner from Yorkshire says he is proud to have been honoured in the New Year’s Honours List and hopes it will lead to quicker justice for the victims of the Post Office scandal.
Lee Castleton, who had a sub post office in Bridlington, receives an OBE along with Seema Misra, Chris Head and Jo Hamilton were made OBEs for services to justice, after Sir Alan Bates was knighted earlier this year.
Mr Castleton said it was “wonderful” to be recognised alongside his fellow campaigners, adding: “Sometimes you have to step forward and shout as loud as you can because some of our group aren’t able to do that.”
He said: “I’m very honoured and very proud. Obviously, it’s one of those things where it’s not the end.
“It’s just sad that it’s been prolonged and protracted by the other side and it would be nice to just draw a line under everything with something like this – but onwards and upwards.”
Mr Castleton, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, was found to have had a £25,000 shortfall at his branch in 2004, and was made bankrupt after he lost his legal battle with the Post Office.
His case came under the spotlight in January when it featured heavily in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Reflecting on what campaigning had been like since the drama, Mr Castleton said: “It’s been a complete turnaround really. We were all of a sudden being listened to, we feel very engaged.”
Mr Castleton also highlighted how ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells forfeited her CBE before it was stripped from her.
He said: “It was not taken from her. Not taken from her for any of her actions.
“She handed it back, she had no accountability. The Government, or the Crown, or this country, never have forced anybody to either lose their job, or be removed from something, or hand back an honour.
“That’s never been forced, it’s been a choice. I’m sorry, but in 2004 I had no choice. This was put on me by a group of people who knew it to be untrue.”
Mr Castleton said there were people who are “highly pensioned, highly paid, to mislead, obfuscate, make things difficult, and are still in place” at the Post Office.More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.