Postmaster accused of stealing £85,000 wins five-year battle for justice claiming a 'computer glitch' caused cash shortfall

A sub-postmaster accused of stealing £85,000 by the Post Office has won a five-year battle to clear his name.

Tom Brown, 67, from South Stanley, County Durham, has been told he will face no further action after the company said it could not enter any evidence just months before he was due to appear in a civil court case.

Police launched an investigation when it emerged there was a £85,426 shortfall at North Kenton Post Office in 2007, but after four years looking into the claim, they told him he would not face criminal charges.

Mr Brown, who was given a certificate of valour by the Post Office in the mid-90s after fending off a knife-wielding robber, has always maintained the shortfall was the result of a glitch in the company's controversial Horizon computer system.

It is claimed more than 100 people across the country have been the subjects of false allegations by the Post Office as a result of a computer error.

A campaign group, the Justice For Sub-postmasters Alliance, run by Alan Bates, of Old Colwyn, Conwy, helped in Mr Brown's fight. A number have registered an interest in suing the Post Office over the false accusations.

Despite police dropping the case, lawyers acting for The Post Office Ltd pursued two charges of false accounting against Mr Brown through the civil courts. But the company has said it no longer pursuing the case because it is 'not in the public interest' and a judge has recorded not-guilty verdicts.

Mr Brown, a grandfather-of-three, says he is relieved but has criticised Post Office bosses for their 'relentless pursuit' over the past five years.

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.

'That's the biggest mistake I made. When the Post Office did an audit they found all this missing money and I was suspended.

'Without my salary I couldn't afford to pay the staff and I couldn't afford to pay the bills. I was made bankrupt. They wanted to search my house and they went through my car. I said to them, 'You won't find £85,000 in there".'

Mr Brown lost his wife, Carole, to breast cancer in 2003 at the age of 57. The couple had worked together since 1981 when they bought the Chester Moor post office before taking control of a site on Colliery Row Post Office in Fence Houses.

Mr Brown said: 'Because my wife was ill - they said she only had 18 months to live, but she survived for three years - we gave up the branch and moved into a new house.

'After she died, I started working in Finlays in North Kenton and eventually bought the site.

'I had a three-bedroom detached house in West Pelton and a flat across the road, which I rented out.

'When I was suspended I lost all that and I lost £50,000 a year in Post Office salaries. All the staff I've ever worked with in Newcastle think I stole £85,000. They've dragged my reputation through the dirt.

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

Mr Brown has now entered into a 'mediation' period with Post Office bosses as he wants compensation for five years of 'torture'.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones has championed Mr Brown's fight and raised his plight in Parliament.

Last night Mr Jones told The Journal it was a 'scandal', stating: 'The way Tom has been treated is verging on cruel.

'Ministers must now act to ensure victims of these Post Office allegations get the compensation they deserve. I have written to ministers today and will be pursuing Tom's case very hard.'

Last year the Post Office instructed a firm of forensic accountants, 2nd Sight Limited, to conduct an independent review of 10 existing cases raised by a number of MPs and the law firm Shoosmiths.

About 100 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses have registered an interest in suing Post Office Ltd over its Horizon computer system, which records financial transactions in branches across the UK. The Post Office has repeatedly denied there is a problem with the system, saying the claims have been made by a very small number of people.

But Mr Jones criticised Business Minister Jo Swinson during a Parliamentary debate last month, saying a report had found there was scope for the Post Office 'to improve aspects of its support and training for sub-postmasters'.

A Post Office Ltd spokeswoman said: 'Post Office Ltd has determined that in this case it is no longer in the public interest to prosecute.'

She added: 'The Post Office is committed to supporting its people and improving the way we do so. The interim review published recently by independent investigators Second Sight makes it clear that the Horizon computer system and its supporting processes function effectively across our network.

'As the review notes, it is used by around 68,000 people in more than 11,500 branches, successfully processing more than six million transactions every day. The review underlines our cause for confidence in the overall system.'

In relation to other cases, she said: 'We would not comment on other cases. However, cases are only prosecuted where they meet and continue to meet the requirements of the code for Crown Prosecutors. That code requires both an evidential test and a public interest test to be applied. The code also requires the prosecution to keep under review whether or not that test continues to be met.'

Original report here




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