Post Office IT scandal: Sub-postmistress' husband was racially attacked

Husband of a Surrey sub-postmistress was racially and physically attacked after her wrongful conviction in the Post Office scandal.

Seema Misra, the wrongly-convicted Surrey sub-postmistress, was pregnant with their second son when she was jailed for a alleged £70,000 shortfall at their West Byfleet branch.

Her husband Davinder Misra told BBC how he was attacked by four or five people and was beaten up on three occasions having seen him in a local paper.

Davinder said he had tried to protect his 10-year old son.

He told BBC Radio Surrey that one of the attackers had referred to him using a racial slur.

"They pushed me, they were kicking me in the whole face, but I knew if I resisted, I would have had more kicks," he said. "I had to let them, I couldn't scream in case my son heard, came down and they beat him up."

Seema's conviction is one of 39 quashed in 2021. She is calling on compensation for each victim.

"Accountability is the main fight. People who knew, who are culprits, we need to put them behind bars, now not in 2026 or 2040. We need to set a right example that the judicial system does work. Nobody is above the law.

"We want to get compensation for each and every person that suffered so we can at least move on," she told BBC.

The couple went to see the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP) for help but were turned down as non-members as they had resigned from the Post Office.

Saj Hussain, the federation's current south-east regional director, said, "Time and time again, we were reassured by the Post Office that there was nothing wrong with the IT system.

"In hindsight, I wish we had dug in deeper."

Hussain says the federation, based at Shoreham, West Sussex, has now changed its policy so former members can be helped and all issues are logged.