Stockton former sub postmaster receives Horizon compensation

A former sub-postmaster who was wrongly convicted amid the Horizon scandal has recently received a £600,000 settlement.

Keith Bell, 76, was a sub-postmaster in Stockton, Teesside, between 1987 and 2002, when he was convicted of false accounting. He had to do 200 hours of community services when he was convicted.

Speaking to BBC, Bell stated that though he feel he could finally do the things he should have done for 20 years, he did not feel entirely vindicated.

"There's parts of my life I'll never be able to have over, but now I've got a chance to do things I haven't been able to do," he said.

"I decided that at my age I wanted to accept the offer that was given to me, I could have appealed for more, but that would have meant the process going on for years."

"Because of that conviction I lost jobs, I was unable to find work that could support my family, basically, and I became bankrupt," he said.

Bell added that he was inspired to fight for compensation by the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

He said, "I never, ever, thought I'd be in a position to challenge the Post Office, I didn't know enough about IT, I didn't have enough legal knowledge, nor did I have the funds to do it - I just decided I needed to put my weight behind the cause."

Last May, the government quashed all convictions which were part of the Post Office scandal.

Bell said the U-turn had been a "huge relief".

He added daily life had been a "struggle" over the past 20 years, but he was very lucky his customers and friends had been "very kind", while he was aware other sub-postmasters had a "terrible time".

Bell had spent years believing he had been at fault for the shortfalls which occurred at his Post Office branch in Stockton-on-Tees.

He had been a sub-postmaster from 1985, and like hundreds of others, began to experience unexplained shortfalls in his accounts after having the Horizon IT system installed in his branch.

He called Post Office helplines but was given little support, so when his books didn’t balance, he’d make up the shortfall himself. He did this firstly from his own savings, then from the proceeds of a house sale, before finally delaying some transactions in desperation to "make the books look right".

When auditors noticed discrepancies and wrongly told him other sub-postmasters had not had issues with Horizon.

He admitted to a charge of false accounting over a shortfall of £3,000 at Teesside Magistrates’ Court in 2002 and was handed a sentence of 200 hours community service. Unable to maintain mortgage payments on the business property, it was repossessed by the bank.

Read more on Post Office Horizon scandal.