'I blame the Post Office for my husband's death': Widow speaks out over Horizon compensation

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https://www.itv.com/news/2024-04-11/i-b ... speaks-out

Speaking publicly for the first time, the widow of Jayakanthan told ITV News she believes the Post Office 'is to blame' for her husband's death

For the twenty years of her widowhood, Gowri has wondered: what really happened on the last day of her husband's life.

The facts of his death are simple. But the sudden financial crisis that drove him to suicide remains mysterious.

"There were two officers. And I think the police also came. And I asked them, 'where is he? Where is my husband?' And they said he is under audit. Under investigation."

Jayakanthan ran a string of convenience stores. And he'd recently taken on a Post Office branch in west London. Suddenly, there was money missing from its accounts.

"He panicked, that's the best word. He got scared," says Gowri.

She is speaking publicly for the first time of the moment she discovered her husband's body, in the attic of their home.

"Finally we thought to kick the door [down] and we went in and he was dead. For three days I didn't sleep. For three days I was crying."

Jayakanthan took his own life, but his widow believes others bear some responsibility.

"I think the Post Office is to blame," she says.

Gowri describes her husband as an ambitious businessman and a generous father, who worked hard to support their two young children.

"It was a really bad dream for me. I was in shock. Unexpected."

Slowly, Gowri rebuilt her family's life. She moved back to Sri Lanka for a while, where she had met her husband when they were both young children.

She returned to the UK, and settled in Liverpool, where we met at the Royal Albert Docks.

But it was only when the problems with the Post Office's Horizon IT system became public knowledge that she tried to seek redress.

Still, her claim for compensation took three years to settle, and it ended with its rejection.