A GRANDMOTHER who was forced to re-mortgage her home after being accused of stealing £36,000 by the Post Office, said she has been left “so angry” by the 18-year ordeal.

As previously reported, former South Warnborough sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton finally had her conviction for false accounting overturned on Friday at the Royal Courts of Justice, along with 39 others.

The 63-year-old mother-of-two was one of hundreds of sub-postmasters prosecuted for false accounting, and in 2008 she pleaded guilty for fear of going to prison.

However, the problems were in fact because of the Post Office’s defective Horizon accounting system, affecting hundreds of sub-postmasters who were prosecuted.

 

 

Speaking to the Gazette, Jo said despite the relief of having her conviction overturned, she feels angry at what has happened.

The mother has not been able to secure a job since the scandal, other than cleaning, because of her criminal record.

She said: “I’m so angry. My Post Office started going wrong in 2003 and I was 45 and I’m 64 in June.

"My mum and dad aren’t here to see this. They bailed me out with credit cards to keep the shop going and then both died of a stroke. I’m sure they wouldn’t have had strokes if this hadn’t happened. I can only imagine as a mother myself how I would feel if my son were up in Winchester Crown Court.”

Jo said the village of South Warnborough has supported her throughout the ordeal, with 74 of them attending her court hearing in 2008 and many rallying to offer financial support.

“It’s the most shocking and heart-breaking story,” said Jo, who considers herself “lucky” to have been supported by her neighbours.

At her sentencing in 2008 she was warned there was a 75 per cent chance she could go to prison, so she packed her bags ready.

Thankfully, the mum was spared prison, but said having a criminal record was the worst part, explaining: “Being accused of dishonesty, I have never stolen anything in my life. The stigma of it was awful.

"Then to find out they knew what was going on. I’m so angry and no one has been held to account. I’m speechless. I sometimes wonder where I’m living. How can this happen in this country?”

Explaining how it felt to hear her name read out in court on Friday as her conviction was overturned, she said: “I couldn’t believe the press there. We came out of the court and it was like we were film stars. We thought ‘we’ve done it, we have really done it’.”

However, the jubilation soon faded and all that is left now is anger and resentment for Jo, who hopes she will one day be compensated and be paid back the money she gave the Post Office.

“My husband is 74 and all our plans for the future were torpedoed by the Post Office,” she said.

In a statement ahead of Friday’s ruling, a Post Office spokeswoman said: “We sincerely apologise to the postmasters affected by our historical failures.

“Throughout this appeal process we have supported the quashing of the overwhelming majority of these convictions and the judgment tomorrow will be an important milestone in addressing the past.”

Mrs Hamilton previously said she first noticed problems in 2003 when her till system showed there was £2,00 missing.

She contacted the Post Office support who advised her how to resolve the issue. However, after following their instructions the discrepancy doubled to £4,000.

Panicking, she altered the figures which eventually led to a missing amount of £36,000.