Ex Inverness sub-postmaster backs calls for all Post Office scandal victims to be cleared
More than 700 branch managers were wrongly convicted of fraud, false accounting and theft due to faulty software.
Last updated 8th Jan 2024
A former Highland sub-postmaster is calling for all those convicted in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal to have their names cleared.
More than 700 branch managers were wrongly convicted of fraud, false accounting and theft due to faulty software.
Less than 100 people have had their convictions quashed.
Peter Worsfold, from Inverness, says he was forced to pay around £37,000 to avoid a prison sentence after using the Horizon accounting system between 2000 and 2002.
After paying the sum to avoid charges of theft and false accounting, he was sacked from his role in 2002 following claims some money was still unaccounted for.
Following a TV drama and recent public outcry over the hundreds still waiting for compensation, Mr Worsfold feels overturning previous convictions is the "most sensible thing to do."
"They should quash the lot" - Peter Worsfold
Yesterday, the Prime Minister outlined how his team were looking into if those wrongly convicted between 1999 and 2015 as a result of the faulty software could be exonerated.
Mr Worsfold, 79, feels this is the right way forward.
He said: "They're trying to put forward that they quash the lot and that is the most sensible thing to do.
"There might be one or two thieves, but they've all served their terms so it makes no difference.
"They should quash the lot."
While working at his branch in Muirtown, Mr Worsfold claims he was told he owed around £37,000 and paid that sum to avoid a prison sentence.
He's among hundreds still fighting for justice more than 20 years later.
In 2022, Mr Worsfold gave evidence to the Horizon Inquiry and explained how the scandal ruined his life.
He's now desperate to bring the saga to an end.
Mr Worsfold added: "I was devastated because it was my livelihood.
"I was a single parent with three children.
"I couldn't afford to go to prison which they threatened me with, so I accepted the losses and paid them the money.
"I went and worked as a taxi driver, got an assistant in the shop, used credit cards to keep the stock ticking over, but it just got too much in the end."
Mr Worsfold was able to leave the shop in 2008, six years after being sacked from his Post Office role.
The pensioner has been given some compensation, but says it's not gone far enough in terms of paying off bills and providing a suitable income.
He added: "All I live off now is the state pension which is about £200 a week and it doesn't go very far.
"I'd just like to put it behind me, have a reasonable amount of money so I can have an income.
"It's very hard.
"24 years of my life is gone and I've got no idea how it's going to end."
TV drama "very true to life"
On New Year's Day, the ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office' aired, raising awareness on the scandal to millions across the UK.
Mr Worsfold says the show has helped shine a light on what hundreds of people have had to endure.
"It was very true to life.
"The actors and actresses they picked seem to fit perfectly with those affected in real life.
"It really hit home."
Commenting on compensation and the forthcoming ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office airing on 1 January, Nick Read, Post Office Chief Executive, said: “Our efforts to rectify the wrongs of the past include paying full and fair compensation supported by our shareholder, the UK Government.
"To date, we have paid over £120 million in compensation.
"We hope that the ITV drama will raise further awareness and encourage anyone affected who has not yet come forward to seek the redress and compensation they deserve."