Calls for independent inquiry into subpostmaster fraud claim

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Former Post Office worker Jo Hamilton to continue in her bid to clear her name following calls for independent inquiry

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A FORMER Post Office worker has vowed to keep fighting to clear her name after calls were made for an independent inquiry into a computer system used by postmasters.

Jo Hamilton, who was a subpostmistress in South Warnborough, was plunged into a nightmare when she admitted 14 counts of false accounting after just over £36,500 disappeared from the Post Office.

She was forced to remortgage her house for £30,000 to pay back the sum and was slapped with a community order after she pleaded guilty to the charges at Winchester Crown Court.

The Post Office commissioned a review by forensic accountant firm Second Sight after more than 100 subpostmasters said they were wrongly prosecuted for theft, fraud, and false accounting due to problems with the Horizon computer software.

Second Sight has since stated that the Post Office should be “more alert” to possible problems with the Horizon system and Communication Workers’ Union Andy Furey has called for an independent inquiry into the situation.

Mother-of-two Mrs Hamilton has always maintained her innocence and now wants the Criminal Case Review Commission to become involved.

Mrs Hamilton told The Gazette she noticed a problem when she was £2,000 down and rang the Post Office helpline, but their instructions resulted in this figure jumping to £4,000.

After this she panicked and started to alter the figures in the system, which led to her eventual prosecution.

She said: “Technically I had been guilty of false accounting because I knew the balance wasn’t right and I didn’t tell them, but that’s how they get you.

“They take you to the wire and then do a plea bargain.

I remember my solicitor saying ‘you will definitely to go prison for theft and you might not for false accounting’.

“I was just terrified of going to prison.”

The Post Office admits to being concerned because the Second Sight report repeats complaints made by former subpostmasters, but says there is no evidence to support those claims.

A spokesman said: “Over the last three years there have been exhaustive investigations which have not found any evidence of systemic problems with the Horizon system.

“The mediation scheme was set up to address individual complaints and that is what we have gone to great lengths to do – a number are now resolved.

“The complaints are considered on their facts and substance.”