‘I need to punish someone’

Former sub-postmaster Harjinder Butoy spent more time in prison than any other victim of post office hoargen.

After 18 months in jail, then it took another 15 years to clear his name. He is one of the dozens of sub-postmasters who gave evidence for the official inquiry about what happened.

The Inquiry President, Sir Vyan Williams, will provide the first part of his final report on Tuesday, which will focus on the human influence of the scam and also look at the compensation.

But Mr. Batoy is not sure he will be able to see. “It’s going to bring back a lot of bad memories for me,” he told the BBC, “need to punish someone”.

The post office scam is believed to be one of the biggest abortion of Justice in the history of Britain.

Thousands of victims were incorrectly convicted for financial loss from the guilty horizon computer system, which was rolled out in the post office branch network since 1999.

More than 900 people were prosecuted and 236 were sent to jail.

Mr. Butoy was one of them, convicted by stealing more than £ 200,000 from his branch in Nottinghamshire in 2007.

“We lose everything from the day I was sentenced. We lost our business. I had to declare bankruptcy. My wife and three children had to return with my parents,” he says.

After his release from jail, his convict meant that he was struggling to find work and his health was also suffering.

“I just want everyone to know what has happened to all of us. But I also need to punish someone and let them go to jail and feel what we are doing,” they say.

His sentence was overturned in 2021. The Parliament later released all those who were convicted.

The inquiry of 189 people heard, who gave evidence of how the scam had reverse their lives.

Many lost their businesses, some lost their homes, and most lost their reputation and financial security.

The second part of the inquiry report – how the scam on it and why – cannot be published until 2026.

Although Harjinder is not watching Butoy, Wendy Buffery and Nicola Arch will be one of dozens of victims and their families are going to speak headed as he presents a volume 1 of his report. Many more action will be seen on the Internet.

Mrs. Buffery, who had a post office in Cheltenham, was suspended and prosecuted in December 2008 after an audit. He had to sell his home and business to pay the alleged shortage in his accounts, and suffer with his mental health.

She says that the publication of the report is going to be a “big day”.

“In fact, the identity for installation is that whatever they kept us is too big,” he said. “We have not been thought through the apology that we apologized to the post office, and is not really honest.”

Mrs. Arc, who managed the Chelford Hill branch near Straude, says: “You hope that the government will accept every detail of that report.”

He was accused of stealing pensioners, stealing from his local community and spitting outside a local supermarket.

Two years later, he was not found guilty, “But by then the damage was done”.

She says that her family had an impact “like a tsunami”. “It is like a cobway. It only impresses every friend, family, child, you know, connected to you.”

For many victims of the scam, the most pressure issue is financial prevention.

This is the main reason that Sir Vayan has divided his report into two, to publish his conclusions on compensation progress as soon as possible.

He has taken a keen interest on how to prevent how to prevent this issue and providing an interim report in 2023, where he compared various schemes to “Patchwork quilting with some holes in it”.

David Enerite, Solicitor of Hava & Company, says, “Compensation has been a painful issue, which represents hundreds of unjust sub-posters.

“However, we are also expecting [the report] People will remind what the real loss has happened, and it is to disintegrate families across the country. ,

According to the latest government data, more than £ 1BN has been paid in compensation from more than 7,300 sub-postmasters.

However, hundreds of people are still waiting for their final payment and many are closed in controversies on the amount that have been given to them.

Mr. Butoy has presented his claim for compensation only. It has taken three years to collect all the necessary reports and paperwork.

“It was very good to clean our name. But compensation is very difficult. It seems that they do not believe us, do not trust us.”

His lawyer, Neel Hadgel, whose firm also represents hundreds of other pre-postmasters, told the BBC that if the situation does not improve, complete and fair prevention for all victims may take one and two to three years.

Hudgel Solicitor says that it has helped over 300 people agree with losses of more than £ 170m. However, Mr. Hadgel says that his firm still has more than 700 cases that are waiting for various compensation schemes to be resolved.

Meanwhile, the police officer has led the investigation in the scam Criminal test may not start until 2028,

The wait continues for Mr. Butoy, and others who want to see those responsible people in the account.