Guilty until proven?

British Post Office Scandal

Another miscarriage of justice

by Chaand Chazelle

‘Justice must not only be done – it must be seen to be done.’

Lofty slogan. But, really, how Truely is it adhered to in its spirit and letter?

‘British Justice is – something to be proud of.’

But the truth is that ‘pride’ is in tatters; the Post Office bosses withheld the truth  and the lies were constantly perpetuated by the high and mighty, who are/were running this organisation, the likes of Paula Vennels and her executives were earning bumper bonuses by taking £30 million annually off the Post Office losses; while sub-postmasters were stripped off their living, their properties confiscated, they were made bankrupt, their children were abused in schools, They ended up with depression and mental illness, some committed suicide, others were convicted and sent to jail, hundreds of lives were ruined.

Mike Young, a chief operating officer told the BBC – “the Horizon system is absolutely correct and reliable, we have full confidence in this system.”

Not true.

The Post Office dates way back to 1660 when it was established by Charles the II.

‘Post Office Counters Limited’ was created as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Post Office in 1987. Richard Dyke took over the management until his retirement in 2001. Then a new role was created for David Mills to step into. With declining mail usage, a loss of £102 million occurred in 2006. Many of these sub post offices were run by independent shopkeepers, answerable to the Post office. It was a part of the fabric of British society until this scandal.

Paula Vennells was appointed as its Chief Executive in 2007

Seema Mishra was 34 years old in 2010 when she was accused of stealing £74,000 and was convicted for false accounting; she is 47 now – no compensation can bring back the lost years!