Some of those affected have been offered half of one per cent of their compensation claim, and others have died without getting a penny
A Government scheme to compensate victims of the Horizon Post Office Scandal is failing, says the former subpostmaster leading the fight for justice.
Sir Alan Bates, who is campaigning for thousands of subpostmasters wrongly accused of dishonesty because of faulty software, says the High Court Group Litigation Order (GLO) case against the Post Office brought by 555 people has only given full and final redress to half of that number.
Others have been offered half of one per cent of their claim, and some have died without receiving a penny. Sir Alan is now calling for a senior figure to oversee the scheme.
Today on Good Morning Britain, Susanna Reid spoke to Sir Alan Bates after a new study shared with ITV News documented the emotional damage inflicted on those who were interrogated or imprisoned due to errors in the Horizon system that led to them being prosecuted for stealing.
It comes as last night's BAFTAs ceremony named ITV's dramatisation of the post office scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, the best drama series. ITV also took home a special award to recognise the show's impact.
Sir Alan told Good Morning Britain today: "It's an achievement to everyone that's been involved with it all the way through, and for a lot of the victims that have stuck with it throughout the whole time.
"Even I found it heartbreaking and I knew most of the people and I knew their stories… It was just the whole feeling that it developed along the way. It showed desperation in so many ways and it actually brought it through to completion and justification of all the suffering that people had been through, and holding others to account for it."
Discussing the current position in getting full and final redress for the victims of the Horizon Post Office scandal, Sir Alan said: "I was involved with the GLO [compensation] scheme which was the 555, and out of those, I think there are currently about half that have received full and final redress.
"I can tell you of other cases where people have been to prison, who have suffered and been prosecuted the whole time in there, and they have claims in for substantial amounts, and they are being offered less than half of 1 per cent. Half of 1 per cent of their claim… It's a big problem and someone needs to sort it out."
On whether he is still asking for a deadline for all claims to be settled, Sir Alan said: "I think we've gone beyond that now. I think there needs to be someone brought in to oversee the whole scheme, some very senior person brought in and given real control to drive these cases through.
"Why are we having to go through all of this? Why are they so determined to make people suffer again, day after day, time after time? They're living with this 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. They want to put it behind them, they want to move on with their lives."
Sir Alan then went on to shed light on why he has not yet accepted redress or compensation for what happened to him, explaining: "I've not accepted the offer that's been made at the moment.
"My solicitors wrote back to the department about two months ago with queries and they haven't responded, but I've got to try and hold out because what's right is right and that's it."
Asked by Susanna what the scandal has done to people's state of mind, Sir Alan said: "It's enormous. It's not just the subpostmasters involved who have been inflicted by this. It goes right across the families.
"It is horrendous, but the government has refused to accept that as part of the settlement. Don't forget a lot of people have lost their homes over the years, their businesses, their pensions - they've lost a whole host of things. It's horrible.
"We’ve lost nearly 100 of the original 555 over the years," he added.
"People have died having been found guilty in the past, and then later on you've found that all their convictions have been overturned by the court but they've never discovered that because they have died along the way. They've gone to their death thinking they were guilty throughout the whole period."
Susanna asked: "Do you think there should be prosecutions and who should be prosecuted?"
Sir Alan responded: "Yes, there will be prosecutions - I have no doubts on it. My meeting with the Metropolitan Police was to find out whether they were going to go ahead and look into investigating what had gone on, and if they hadn't, we would have started a campaign to bring forward private prosecutions just like the Post Office did over the years."
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