Subpostmaster declared bankrupt amid Horizon scandal gets compensation after 23 years

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https://uk.news.yahoo.com/subpostmaster ... gY18IJcJvp

A subpostmaster declared bankrupt and landed with a criminal record when faulty Horizon software created errors in his accounts has finally been compensated.

Keith Bell, who ran the Bishopton Road Post Office in Stockton, spent 20 years blaming himself for shortfalls on his accounts until he watched ‘Mr Bates v The Post Office’ and felt like his life was unfolding on TV.

He went from living a comfortable life to being bankrupt and even lost his new job as a driving instructor due to the criminal conviction, but has now received a £600,000 payout.

Keith told the Echo: “I got to the point when I had no money – there was nothing coming in. I tried to keep paying the mortgage but I had to declare myself bankrupt.

“I went from a way of life where I wasn’t rich but I was comfortable. That came to an end, you make do with what you can.

“It’s nice to be in the position that if we wanted to do something we can do it. I’m 76-years-old now - it’s more what I can do for my family.”

Keith has received his compensation sooner than other subpostmasters as he decided not to challenge an initial offer to add other losses like earnings. He is yet to decide how he will spend his £600,000 payment.

“I could have claimed I lost the premises, that I had that I lost my job, but in my circumstances, I took the offer they gave me”, he said.

“I feel a bit guilty I’ve got my compensation and there’s an awful lot of people with a long way to go yet. The system is still not working as it should.

“I’m pleased I’ve got my money but still frustrated that so many of my colleagues don’t. There are people who have died, taken their own lives.

“There is still an awful lot of people with an awful lot to answer for.”

Keith previously told how he began to experience shortfalls soon after the faulty Horizon IT system was installed at the Post Office he had successfully ran since 1985. He says he rang helplines but was given little support, and when the books didn’t balance he made up shortfalls from his own pocket, and in an act of desperation delayed some transactions to ‘make the books look right’.

When auditors found discrepancies, he blamed himself and admitted a charge of false accounting in 2002 over a shortfall of £3,000 at Teesside Magistrates’ Court. Convictions were quashed by an act of Parliament last year.

He never thought he could challenge the Post Office and only came forward after watching the ITV drama which propelled the scandal into the limelight last January.

“After 20 years you more or less become resigned to it,” he said.

“We were all made to feel shame, and that is why people like myself have never come forward until now.

“I’m an honest person who has been labelled a criminal for 20 years, and the impact of that is huge. Life has been tough at times and the conviction has always hung over me.”

A public inquiry remains ongoing into the Horizon IT scandal, which involved hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of stealing.