Mon, 29 Dec 2025

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 Oldest Post Office scandal victim made OBE

Betty Brown says she is accepting the honour on behalf of all the victims of the scandal.
Betty Brown, a 92-year-old woman who was one of the oldest surviving victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to justice. Brown and her late husband Oswall ran the Annfield Plain Post Office in County Durham from 1985 until they were forced out in 2003 after spending over £50,000 of their savings to cover non-existent shortfalls. She received a long-awaited settlement from one of the government's compensation schemes recently. In response to receiving her OBE, Brown said that every victim of the scandal should have been recognized in this way and accepted the award on behalf of all those who were wrongfully prosecuted and had suffered as a result of the Horizon IT system. The system led to over 900 sub-postmasters being wrongly accused and thousands more, like Brown, having to cover for alleged losses at their branches. Brown was part of the landmark group legal action against the Post Office, along with Sir Alan Bates, who was knighted in 2024 for his services to justice. She described being made an OBE as a sign that she had "finally been heard by the system" and expressed her gratitude that the recognition came after years of campaigning. The government has paid out over £1.3bn to more than 10,000 victims of the Horizon scandal, which is considered one of the widest miscarriages of justice in the UK.
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