Wrongly jailed postmaster 'gets full compensation'

Noel Thomas - pictured after receiving an honorary degree from Bangor University - was jailed after being wrongly convicted of false accounting

A former sub-postmaster jailed after being wrongly convicted of false accounting says he has been given a full final compensation payment.

More than 900 people were prosecuted after faulty Horizon software flagged discrepancies in accounts.

Noel Thomas, from Gaerwen, Anglesey, was sent to prison for nine months in 2006 when his books fell short by £48,000, but he successfully appealed against his conviction.

The 77-year-old, who had previously received interim compensation, declined to say how much he had received, but in September last year the government said victims of the scandal would be offered £600,000.

He called the process of getting the cash "totally hideous".

"Why has it taken so long?" he asked. "Because we have been in denial for years.

"There is the [Post Office] inquiry now, and hopefully [chairman] Sir Wyn Williams will also come back with an outcome for our side."

Mr Thomas said he planned to fight to ensure other former sub-postmasters are compensated.

He said: "It has been very difficult for them. I am on the phone with about half a dozen of them who I have become very good friends with."

They had, he said, lost "everything".

"Having worked for the Post Office, like I have for 42 years, you did not expect something like this," he said.

The 77-year-old successfully appealed his conviction

Mr Thomas said he fully backed Sir Alan Bates' March 2025 deadline for compensation claims to be settled.

Sir Alan, from Llandudno, in Conwy county, founded the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance (JSFA) in 2009 to help those affected by Horizon.

The UK government said it had been taking action under the Horizon convictions redress scheme since July, and that it had announced an appeals process so postmasters could have settlements independently reviewed.

It was, it said, settling claims faster than ever, it had paid about £499m to more than 3,300 claimants, and total redress claimed had more than doubled since the end of June.

He said the process of getting compensation had been "totally hideous"

"We encourage the 158 people who have not yet sent us complete claims to come forward as soon as possible to can claim back what they are owed," a spokesman said.

The Post Office said it apologised "unreservedly" to Horizon victims.

It added that it was doing all it could "to transform the organisation and support those impacted to find closure".