North Yorkshire victim of post office scandal praises new drama
Chris Trousdale from Whitby was one of hundreds wrongly accused of theft and fraud
A North Yorkshire man says the new drama about the post office scandal brings back painful memories.
Chris Trousdale who is from Whitby was one of hundreds who were wrongly accused of theft and fraud - which was actually down to an IT error.
The final of Mr Bates versus the Post office airs tonight.
"Many of the victims suffer with PTSD"
Chris says the writers reached out to many of the victims to help tell the story: "Although you see some main characters in the drama, it tells a lot of our stories within that, a lot of very, very similar, we were all told we were the only ones, we all suffered the same thing at the hands of the post office, so it's a great way to understand what people had to go through."
"It brings up old memories and the trauma that many are dealing with today. Many of the victims suffer with PTSD, many are in therapy every day. It is quite raw but I do encourage people to watch it, it's very powerful I think is the best word to use."
He is also hoping the drama encourages other victims to speak up: "We're trying to get those who are unwilling or unable to come forward to please do so because there is still hundreds of victims who are convicted and we know many who just don't want to engage because they do not trust the justice system, the post office or the Government."
Meanwhile the Prime Minister says calls for a former Post Office boss to lose her CBE over her involvement in the Horizon scandal are separate from Government
Asked whether Paula Vennells should have the honour removed, Rishi Sunak said: "There's an independent process for honours forfeiture, which is done by an independent committee, so that's a separate process from government.
"But, more generally, my job is to make sure that we're putting in place the compensation schemes and all those people who were awfully treated, suffered an appalling miscarriage of justice, get the justice that they deserve, and that's what we're delivering.
"I'm pleased we're delivering that and I'd urge anyone affected to come forward and make sure that they can benefit from those schemes."