Tue, 08 Jul 2025

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 Post Office scandal had 'disastrous' impact on victims

The scandal may have led to 13 suicides, the report says, as it criticises the "formidable difficulties" for victims getting compensation.
At least 59 sub-postmasters contemplated suicide due to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, with at least 10 attempts made and potentially up to 13 people who took their own lives. The first report from the official inquiry into the scandal found that hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for criminal offences due to the faulty IT system. The inquiry also discovered that victims suffered serious mental health issues, alcohol addiction, and divorce as a result of their ordeal. A series of urgent recommendations have been made by Sir Wyn Williams, including changes to the compensation schemes, which are currently delivering financial redress to 10,000 eligible people. However, he criticized the speed of compensation, stating that for many claimants it has not been delivered "promptly". The Post Office has apologized "unreservedly" and said they will carefully consider the report and its recommendations. Sir Wyn Williams also stated that senior employees of the Post Office were aware or should have been aware that an older version of the Horizon software was capable of giving false data. He has asked the government to respond to his findings by October 2025. The total legal costs for the "operational delivery of Horizon redress schemes" have risen to £100m, with law firm Herbert Smith Freehills being paid £67m for their work on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme up to December 2, 2024.
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