Postmaster wrongly convicted of stealing £75,000 is now disabled after Horizon Scandal, son says
4 January 2024, 08:57 | Updated: 4 January 2024, 09:20
Son of wrongly convicted postmaster: 'My father is now disabled'
The son of a village postmaster wrongly convicted of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from the Post Office has said his father's health "catastrophically deteriorated" after the ordeal.
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Vipin Patel was charged with stealing £75,000 from the Post Office and convicted of fraud. He was given an 18-week suspended prison sentence in 2011.
He was one of hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly accused of fraud between 1999 and 2015 because of a Post Office computing error. His conviction was overturned in December 2020.
Mr Patel said his father's health had been left disabled after the years-long affair.
He told LBC's Nick Ferrari: "He’s got very very severe health conditions, he walks with crutches, one of his medical reports categorically states that he very likely will be paralysed in the near future.
Read more: Inside the Horizon scandal: The true story behind new drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office
"One of his severe conditions is that he has a heart condition as well.
Current Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey was postal affairs minister under the coalition government when Vipin Patel was convicted. He has said that Post Office bosses misled him during the affair.
Varchas Patel said that he wished Sir Ed had done more for his father.
Mr Patel said that his father "was within the first six to have his conviction quashed" and claimed that the former minister was not interested in helping sub-postmasters.
He said that despite his conviction being quashed three years ago that, "the government still have not given him an interim payment". It has been claimed that all affected sub-postmasters have got at least some compensation.
Mr Patel also said that he agreed with Conservative current postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake that Paula Vennells, who was CEO of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019, should hand back her CBE.
"I cannot fathom... what honourable service she has provided to the Post Office," Mr Patel said.
The Post Office scandal in which Vipin Patel was caught up has been called the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.
Hundreds of Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after the faulty Fujitsu accounting software, Horizon, made it look as if money was missing.
Horizon, which was introduced in 1999, was seen as a "better way" for managers to handle their branch accounts.
Sub-postmasters quickly realised unexplainable discrepancies in their records but the Post Office dismissed these concerns.
The Post Office then accused the sub-postmasters of taking the missing finances for themselves and started criminal proceedings.
Between 1999 and 2015, over 700 people were wrongly prosecuted. Some wrongly accused managers were imprisoned, and financially ruined. Some took their own lives.
Alan Bates, a former sub-postmaster from Wales, has led a years-long campaign for justice that has led to many people getting their convictions overturned, and receiving financial compensation.
No one responsible for the wrongful convictions has been prosecuted.
