Post office scandal couple dismiss 'obscene' pay out offer

Michael Rudkin said the current situation left them with the propect of a "pauper's funeral"

A couple whose careers were wrecked by the Post Office software scandal have called a compensation offer "obscene".

Susan Rudkin, 68, from Leicestershire, was wrongly convicted of stealing money while her husband Michael, 66, lost his job and union position.

The family say they then had to turn their Ibstock home into a bed and breakfast for a source of income.

Mr Rudkin said the £600,000 offer amounted to only slightly more than £100 a day since the problems began.

The Horizon system was designed to record the transactions carried out in a post office branch

He also pointed out the money they had made from the B&B would be deducted from the compensation.

The Post Office brought in a new accounting computer system called Horizon in 1999.

But it began to show a large number of discrepancies in local post office businesses after it went live and the company took the decision to prosecute.

By 2015, the Post Office had prosecuted 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses - with dozens going to prison following convictions for false accounting and theft.

But it emerged it was the software making the mistakes, and many of those affected have been battling for compensation ever since.

The case has been described as "the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history".

The government announced the £600,000 compensation offer earlier this month - but confirmed those who turned it down could continue other legal action.

Susan Rudkin was convicted of losing £44,000, given a suspended sentence and ordered to do 300 hours community service while being electronically tagged.

As well as losing their post office jobs, Mr Rudkin had to give up his position as chairman of the negotiating committee of the National Federation of sub postmasters and struggled to find other employment.

They also had to live with losing their position in the community.

Mr Rudkin said people's perception of them as a couple did not change dramatically after his wife's conviction was finally overturned in April 2021.

The first in a series of settlements with former sub-postmasters was reached in 2019

Mr Rudkin said: "When it's bad news, 10 people hear about it, when it's good news, only one or two seem to."

He acknowledged the £600,000 offered was "not an insignificant number" but that it had to be put in perspective.

"When you take into account that we have been out of the business for 15 years - that is 5,475 days," he said.

"When you look at what the Post Office is offering in terms of compensation, that works out at just over £100 a day - which is absolutely obscene.

"We will not accept £600,000 - and that is £600,000 minus what my wife has earnt."

Pauper's funeral

The Rudkins are among about 550 people seeking alternate compensation.

"We will fight," Mr Rudkin said. "We are now at retirement age. We have to plan, whether we like it or not, for end of life.

"At the end of the day the asset we have got is the family home which would have to be sold up to pay for a retirement home and some money in the bank.

"I didn't set out in life to have a pauper's funeral and I have no intention of accepting it now."

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: "We recognise that for Postmasters who have had to endure hardships or even jail time no amount of compensation will ever be enough, but this payment option aims to provide some sort of relief to those impacted.

"This £600,000 sum and the £21 million that's been paid out to Postmasters with overturned convictions so far, provides a quicker, easier option for people who don't want to go through any further assessment or legal route to compensation."

Post Office chief executive Nick Read said: "Post Office is making good progress to pay compensation to those affected as quickly as possible and therefore welcomes the news that government has found a way to provide the option of concluding settlements through their upfront offer.

"This will be an entirely voluntary choice and so claimants should obtain specific advice from their independent legal and professional representatives in considering whether it is suitable in their individual case."