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Seema Misra said honors were recognition of ‘magnitude of injustice’
Former deputy postmasters turned campaigners in the Post Office scandal have said they will fight on after being made OBEs in the New Year honors list.
Lee Castleton, Seema Misra, Chris Head and Jo Hamilton were honored for their services to justice.
The group was thrust into the spotlight after an ITV drama showed how hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted and convicted of theft, in what has been called the world’s largest miscarriage of justice. most widespread in British history.
Seema Misra, who was eight weeks pregnant when she was wrongly imprisoned, told the BBC the honor “further strengthens our fight for justice”.
She said the awards were recognition of “the scale of the injustice and the scandal”, adding that the campaign did not stop now.
Lee Castleton called it “wonderful” to be recognized alongside his fellow campaigners.
“It’s just sad that this has been extended and prolonged by the other side, but higher and higher. Never give up.”
Mr Castleton, who went bankrupt after losing a legal battle with the Post Office over a £25,000 deficit at his branch in 2004, found himself in the spotlight when his case was featured in the ITV drama ” Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office” in 2004. January.
It centered on the story of Deputy Postmaster Alan Bates, played by actor Toby Jones, who fought and won a legal battle, paving the way for dozens of convictions to be overturned.
Sir Alan was knighted earlier this year.
Reflecting on the impact of the drama, Mr Castleton told the BBC: “Nothing warms the cockles of the public than a drama about real people.
“It took us from just names on paper to real people, which helped our campaign. It means we are now being listened to.”
Lee Castleton said it was ‘wonderful’ to be recognized alongside fellow campaigners
Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters were prosecuted and convicted based on information from a faulty accounting system, Horizon, that made it appear money was missing.
Some subpostmasters have been unjustly imprisoned, many have been financially ruined and forced to declare bankruptcy, while others describe being shunned by their communities after being convicted of false accounting and theft. Some have since died.
The wave of publicity following the ITV drama led former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to hand in her CBE, after more than a million people signed a petition calling for her to be stripped of her CBE. this honor.
Many victims are still angry at the slowness with which compensation is paid and the amounts offered.
Final statements from an inquiry into the scandal were submitted just before Christmas, ending two and a half years of evidentiary hearings.
It has emerged that the Post Office spent £132 million of taxpayers’ money defending itself during the investigation, according to the latest available figures.
Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the Post Office was “learning from the serious failures of the past”.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “I am pleased to see a group of Horizon Deputy Postmasters recognized in this New Year Honors list.
“They deserve special recognition for their tireless campaigning on behalf of the postmasters who waited far too long for justice – and although this Government has doubled the total payouts, we remain determined that justice will be served.”
