Watermans to represent victim of Horizon Post Office scandal
A victim of the infamous Horizon Post Office scandal is set to be represented by Watermans in his fight for compensation.
The client in question was wrongfully accused and convicted of embezzling money after an audit showed an amount of almost £6,000 was missing from his Clackmannanshire Post Office in 2006. The apparent shortfall was reported by the Fujitsu-manufactured IT system known as Horizon, which was introduced to Post Offices to handle accounting tasks across the UK in 1999.
The Watermans client, along with hundreds of other sub-postmasters and postmistresses, was wrongfully prosecuted for crimes like theft and false accounting as a result of faulty reporting by the Japanese IT system, and is now seeking the compensation he deserves for the years of turmoil he has experienced following his conviction.
The Clackmannanshire sub-postmaster, who had taken over duties at the post office from his mother in the early 2000s, pled guilty to the accusations of embezzlement at the time in order to avoid being imprisoned. He was sentenced to 250 hours of community service for his apparent crime, and has since suffered from severe depression and has admitted to attempting suicide because of his experience.
The victim’s conviction has only been overturned this month, and Watermans is now seeking compensation on his behalf for wrongful prosecution and years of emotional suffering endured by himself and his loved ones. The client’s mother, who ran the Post Office in Cambus before he took over, sadly passed away before his name was cleared.
Speaking about the case, Watermans Managing Director Scott Whyte said
“For over 20 years, our client has had the shadow and the shame of this conviction hanging over his and his family’s head. It has been a huge burden that he has had to shoulder for far too long.”
“We will now be taking his case forward to seek the compensation that he is rightfully entitled to. Whilst no amount of money will make up for all that our client and his family have been through, it is essential that the Post Office and all involved in these malicious prosecutions are held fully to account and made to pay for the destruction they have caused to our client and his fellow-postmasters.”