Postie's five-year fight for justice after being cleared

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Postie's five-year fight for justice after being cleared of stealing £85,000 by his own bosses

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/pos ... er-5740016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sub postmaster Tom Brown is seeking compensation for "five years of torture" after being accused of stealing £85,000 from the Post Offiice Ltd

A sub postmaster has spoken of his five-year fight for justice after he was cleared by his own bosses of stealing £85,000.

Tom Brown always claimed a cash shortfall at his North Kenton Post Office was down to a computer glitch.

Now a legal team from the Post Office Ltd has dropped a civil case against him.

The 67-year-old says he has lost his home, been declared bankrupt and had his name “dragged through the mud” after he was suspended in 2008 following an audit at his business.

Police launched an investigation into the claims, but in December 2011 told him there would be no criminal charges.

A legal team from the Post Office Ltd pursued two charges of false accounting through the civil courts as Tom maintained the missing cash was down to a fault in the newly installed Horizon computer system.

Now - just months before he was due to appear at Newcastle Crown Court on November 18 - he has been told the prosecution would be entering no evidence and a judge has recorded not guilty verdicts.

He has been supported by North Durham MP Kevan Jones.

Tom, who now lives in South Stanley, County Durham, with his son Simon, 35, a door supervisor at nightclubs in Newcastle, criticised Post Office chiefs for their “relentless pursuit” of the case. He said: “I’ve lost nearly £300,000 in property, lost my home, been declared bankrupt and had my name dragged through the mud. I knew there was something wrong in the shop and I thought somebody was taking money but I kept it quiet for six months.

“I was suspended and without my salary I couldn’t afford to pay the staff and I couldn’t afford to pay the bills. I was made bankrupt.”

Tom, who was given a Certificate of Valour by his bosses in the1990s after fending off a knifeman wearing a Halloween mask, has three grandchildren named Daniel, eight, Ethan, seven, and Chloe, 13.

He lost his wife, Carole, to breast cancer in 2003 at the age of 57. He said the Post Office had “dragged my reputation through the dirt”.

“When I was told that it was all over I was over the moon, I was absolutely elated,” he said. “But the hardest thing is knowing that me and my wife worked for so many years, doing so much to try and make sure my family was secure.”

Mr Brown has entered a “mediation” period with Post Office chiefs as he seeks compensation for five years of “torture”.

A spokesman for Post Office Ltd said the case against Tom had been dropped because it was no longer in the “public interest”.

He added: “The Post Office is committed to supporting its people and improving the way we do so.”

[Shambles]

Good luck Tom

[fishtank]

I hope Royal Mails pockets are DEEP! Good luck Tom, my heart goes out to you, I pray you will find some semblance of peace once those rotten scoundrels have compensated you for the hell they have put you and your family through!

It won't be the company that pays it will be the Government so basically the tax payer.

I was going to post a long comment about how I feel about this but I deleted it because I suspect there will be a massive legal case to follow and maybe even a criminal investigation so it might be best watching what you say about such things....