"Justice hasn't been done" says Hull post office victim
A former subpostmaster has said victims of the Horizon scandal have had to fight for compensation.
A Hull subpostmaster has said justice will not be done until people are held accountable for wrongful convictions, and all victims are compensated.
The boss of Fujitsu apologised to sub-postmasters for what he called an "appalling miscarriage of justice" while he was questioned by MPs yesterday (16 January).
Fujitsu's faulty Horizon software caused accounting errors which led to the wrongful conviction of over 700 postmasters. The company's director Paul Patterson said it now has a "moral obligation" to contribute to victims' compensation.
Janet Skinner from Hull worked as a subpostmaster in the city, and was jailed for nine months in 2006 after an alleged shortfall of £59,000. She said her conviction left her too scared to tell people her full name.
"There's got to be accountability"
Janet said the legal teams arranging compensation are "scrutinising everything", forcing victims to "fight for every single penny."
She said: "They're well aware of everything that everybody's gone through so to make people like me go through this kind of scrutiny is making me feel like I'm begging them for what they've done."
Janet was cleared in 2021, and is now receiving compensation in a series of instalments.
Last week the government announced plans for the mass exoneration of all victims of the Horizon scandal. Once cleared, victims will be able to apply for up to £600,000 in compensation.
Former postmaster Lee Castleton has called for justice to be dealt swiftly, fearing that many victims will not live to see their cases brought to a close.
Janet said: "Justice hasn't been done. Justice will be done when people are held accountable for what they've done. There's failings in each department so there's never one single person held to account.
"Surely there's got to be accountability - there's accountability for people like me, so why can't there be accountability for these big organisations?"