Ex-postmistress in Post Office scandal inspired by 'brave' campaigners

Karen Jolliffe said she was speaking out for the first time after hearing other stories like hers

A sub-postmistress who was jailed after Horizon showed a shortfall in her accounts said she has been inspired to speak out by "brave" campaigning ex-Post Office staff.

Karen Jolliffe, 77, shared her story for the first time with the BBC, saying it had been a "nightmare" reliving the conviction which upended her life.

"You're very brave and I wish I was braver," she told ex-postmasters.

The government said 130 more potential victims have recently come forward.

Ms Jolliffe, who lives near Farnborough, told BBC Radio 5Live's Nicky Campbell she had been running her Post Office for 20 years when the Horizon IT system was first installed in 2000.

When the system indicated she was running at a loss of several thousand pounds, she tried to conceal it rather than confront the Post Office because "I wasn't brave like all the other postmasters".

Ms Jolliffe continued: "I hid it and moved money around from the shop to the Post Office for about 18 months, two years.

"I knew I was going to be audited and when they came out I just confessed."

Auditors suggested her staff could be stealing, which she rejected, but Ms Jolliffe added: "It never entered my head it could be Horizon."

Despite not understanding where the money had gone, Ms Jolliffe pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison - three months of which she served in custody, with an additional three months spent fitted with a security tag.

In testimony which moved interviewer Nicky Campbell to tears, Ms Jolliffe recounted the impact the conviction had on her family, saying: "My grandson was eight. He was bullied at school.

"On the whole, my family stood by me, and the people who came in my shop. They wrote to me when I was in prison, I had so many letters, so I was lucky in that respect."

She paid tribute to campaigners like Alan Bates and Jo Hamilton, who are portrayed in ITV's recent drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Speaking over the phone, Ms Jolliffe said watching the programme had inspired her to speak out, telling a group of former postmasters who were present in the BBC's studio: "I just felt that all of you, all you postmasters were wonderful.

"I've only just watched it last night because I couldn't bring myself to watch it. I watched all of it last night. If it wasn't for you, people like me wouldn't be saying that. You're very brave and I wish I was braver."

More on the Post Office scandal

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• Why were hundreds of Post Office workers prosecuted?

• How Post Office drama shone light on scandal

• 'Racism affected our treatment in Horizon scandal'

• The village where Post Office scandal battle began

More than 700 people were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015, but it has since emerged that many of these cases relied on data from the Horizon accounting IT programme, which has been shown to have been faulty.

On Wednesday, the government announced it would introduce legislation to overturn the convictions of people who were prosecuted.

The government has urged other potential victims of the scandal who have not spoken out previously to come forward as they may be eligible for compensation.

A public inquiry into the scandal is set to resume on Thursday.