Post Office: 'Compensation won't fix 20 years of suffering'
- Published
Postmaster Parmod Kalia was sentenced to six months in prison
A former postmaster has described how the Post Office wrongly put him in jail and caused a family rift.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted of fraud and theft based on faulty software, called Horizon.
Parmod Kalia had his conviction overturned in May 2021 but he has not been given compensation.
In 2001 Mr Kalia was sentenced to six months in jail after being falsely accused of stealing £22,000.
The Post Office scandal has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.
Some sub-postmasters were wrongfully sent to prison, others were financially ruined. Some have since died.
Mr Kalia is one of the 93 people who have had their convictions overturned.
Only 30 people have agreed "full and final" compensation settlements, meaning many victims are still fighting to clear their names.
Some 54 cases have resulted in either a conviction being upheld, people being refused permission to appeal, or the person appealing having withdrawn from the process.
While the scandal has been public knowledge for some time, an ITV drama - Mr Bates vs The Post Office - which aired last week has thrust the issue back into the spotlight.
For Mr Kalia, who was postmaster in Orpington, south east London, it has been a hard watch.
He told BBC London: "It brought back memories for me for the times when I've contemplated suicide.
"Seeing other people having gone through that as well, it brings back memories for me."
The software was found to be responsible for the missing funds
When the Horizon computer system was installed in his branch, he was accused of theft and taken to court after money started disappearing from his accounts in 2001.
He couldn't make the books balance. Eventually in 2001 there was a hole of £22,000 in the accounts.
He had reported the problem, but the Post Office still blamed him. He said he was advised by the representative of his union to find the money to fill the hole quickly to keep it out of the courts and avoid jail.
He borrowed money from his mother, cashed the cheque and hoped that would be the end of it. But the Post Office still decided to prosecute him for theft based on the data from their computer accounts.
He struggles to find words to describe how strange it was to be charged as an innocent man and to face the court.
"It was like being in a story or something. I really couldn't comprehend what was going on."
With hindsight pleaded not guilty and told the truth, but faced with computer evidence, his lawyer and his union representative said was his case was unwinnable and he was frightened.
As was the case with hundreds of others, Mr Kalia was sentenced to jail for six months.
When the judge gave the ruling he was speechless: "I was having difficulty breathing if I'm honest. I couldn't comprehend what had just been said."
Recalling it today, he said: "I've gone through anxiety, depression, stress, attempted suicide. My marriage was almost broken but we kept it together, I'm rebuilding it.
"My children mistrusted me. They were very young at that time and they were asking me: 'Dad, did you take the money?' I had no answer for them."
Mr Kalia is rebuilding his life after the conviction
An independent public inquiry is continuing and no one has been yet brought to justice.
Mr Kalia, like many others, is still fighting for full compensation.
Mr Kalia has said he is taking thing day by day, and that "compensation won't bring back more than 20 years of suffering".
Ministers are due to meet on Monday to discuss how to help the hundreds wrongly convicted in the scandal.
The justice secretary, Alex Chalk, and postal minister Kevin Hollinrake were set to meet on Monday to discuss the next steps to address the scandal.
A public petition to remove the CBE of the former head of the Post Office, Paula Vennells, has received more than a million signatures.
The prime minister's spokesman said he would "strongly support" the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it were to look at taking away Ms Vennells' award.
Speaking on Monday, Rishi Sunak said: "These things obviously started a very long time ago, and it's right that they're looked at properly and the stories are appalling.
"People were treated absolutely appallingly. That's wrong. And we should do everything we can to make it right."
Mr Sunak said that, as chancellor, he approved the funding for the compensation to be paid to victims of the scandal.
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