Mr Bates v the Post Office: Horizon IT scandal saw powerful authorities hunt innocent sub-postmasters like prey - prosecutions must follow

Back in March 2022, with the story still not receiving the level of attention its scandalous content deserved, a headline ran in this newspaper that said: Post Office Horizon IT scandal has all the hallmarks of Putin’s Russia - as Official Secrets Act used against innocent postmasters.
The Yorkshire Post
By The Yorkshire Post
Published 5th Jan 2024, 13:50 BST
Updated 5th Jan 2024, 13:50 BST
ITV's Mr Bates v the Post Office brings to life the harrowing torment and persecution of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses across the country - hunted, in some cases to death, by the British Establishment for crimes they did not commit.ITV's Mr Bates v the Post Office brings to life the harrowing torment and persecution of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses across the country - hunted, in some cases to death, by the British Establishment for crimes they did not commit.
ITV's Mr Bates v the Post Office brings to life the harrowing torment and persecution of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses across the country - hunted, in some cases to death, by the British Establishment for crimes they did not commit.

That was just one of a number of articles commissioned and published in these pages, as the true size and scale of what is this country’s most ignominious, notorious, infamous miscarriages of justice ever.

The vindictiveness of the pursuit of sub-postmasters, wrongly accused of fraud and theft, subsequently persecuted by the Establishment, is impossible to comprehend. They became prey, hunted down by the authorities for crimes they did not commit. In the end, some were incarcerated, some decided their plight had become a fate worse than death, and so opted for suicide.

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Yet, try as you might through the written word to bring to life the harrowing experiences of individuals caught up in the Horizon scandal, people who were, and remain, the very best of British, words can never be enough.

Former Bridlington Post Office subpostmaster Lee Castleton, pictured in his home town of Scarborough. Picture Jonathan GawthorpeFormer Bridlington Post Office subpostmaster Lee Castleton, pictured in his home town of Scarborough. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe
Former Bridlington Post Office subpostmaster Lee Castleton, pictured in his home town of Scarborough. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe

Step forwards ITV’s Mr Bates v the Post Office. A towering four-hour tome that encapsulates with barenaked frankness the devastatingly cruel torment that hundreds of sub-postmasters were subjected to because Post Office executives, technologists and Ministers alike were too pig-headed to admit that their newfangled accounting system was not fit-for-purpose.

So remarkable is Mr Bates v the Post Office, that it does not simply represent good television – Baftas will surely follow – it represents a public service, bringing to life a heinously wicked chapter in our lives which remains unfinished business. Let us pray that Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake’s hope – that prosecutions will follow – is not misplaced.

Related topics:Post OfficeRussiaKevin Hollinrake