Post Office scandal: Ex Sunderland postmistress calls for “justice and a proper apology” as inquiry starts into Horizon accounting system failures

A former Sunderland postmistress who had her convictions for false accounting overturned last year hopes a new inquiry into the scandal will finally see justice served.
By James Harrison
Published 16th Feb 2022, 04:55 BST
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Pauline Stonehouse was one of more than 700 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses (SPMs) accused of fraud and theft by the Post Office, due to failures in its Horizon accounting system.

The mum-of-two was declared bankrupt and lost her home as a result of the ordeal, which has been branded the “worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history”.

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A judge-led probe into the affair has now started in London, prompting Pauline to call for bosses to finally get to the bottom of the saga which saw many lose homes and even contemplate taking their own lives.

Christopher and Pauline Stonehouse outside the the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after former subpostmistress Mrs Stonehouse, has been been cleared by the Court of Appeal after she was wrongly convicted as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal. Picture date: Monday November 22, 2021.Christopher and Pauline Stonehouse outside the the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after former subpostmistress Mrs Stonehouse, has been been cleared by the Court of Appeal after she was wrongly convicted as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal. Picture date: Monday November 22, 2021.
Christopher and Pauline Stonehouse outside the the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after former subpostmistress Mrs Stonehouse, has been been cleared by the Court of Appeal after she was wrongly convicted as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal. Picture date: Monday November 22, 2021.
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“It’s maddening,” she said, reflecting on the early rounds of testimony from former SPMs who had their careers destroyed as a result of problems in the IT programme used by branches, which was installed and maintained by Fujitsu between 2000 - 2014.

“We had our names dragged through the mud for nothing more than trying to do our jobs.

“Most of the public weren’t aware this was going on, but hopefully now they will know more and support us and see how unjustly we’ve been treated.

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“And I hope that at the end someone will be held accountable, but we need all the help we can get to get justice and a proper apology.”

In December 2019 a High Court judge ruled that the Horizon system contained a number of “bugs, errors and defects” and that there was a “material risk” that shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts were caused by the system.

The case, which eventually resulted in a £58 million settlement, included Chirstopher Head, previously one of the youngest SPMs in the country, before he was falsely accused of being responsible for alleged losses of more than £88,000.

Since then, dozens of SPMs, including Pauline, have had criminal convictions overturned.

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The inquiry is looking into whether the Post Office knew about faults in the IT system and will also ask how staff were made to take the blame.

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