Post Office scandal TV drama 'incredible', Wallasey victim says

Pete Murray said Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The Real Story made him emotional

A former sub-postmaster who was wrongly accused of stealing thousands of pounds from the Post Office has praised the "incredible" TV drama on the scandal.

The ITV show Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The Real Story is based on the Horizon IT scandal.

More than 700 sub-postmasters were convicted of theft after the faulty accounting system Horizon showed money was going missing around the UK.

Pete Murray from Wallasey said watching the series reduced him to tears.

The 57-year-old ran two post offices, Hope Farm Road Post Office in Great Sutton, near Ellesmere Port, and Grove Road Post Office in Wallasey, Wirral.

He was accused of stealing in November 2018 when account discrepancies appeared on his Horizon computer system - and ordered to pay back £65,000.

Mr Murray said the stress of being wrongly accused put him "in a dark place" and it led him to suffering a stroke.

"Even though I'm clear now and settled with the Post Office, I still have this anxious feeling of shame," he added.

The series is airing nightly this week on ITV and also available on the network's streaming service ITVX

The scandal has been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in British history, and Mr Murray said watching the ITV drama was "incredible" and "emotion-invoking".

He praised the way the drama, which is being aired nightly this week, encapsulated the two decades of struggle in four hours.

"To fit 20 years into four hours is brilliant," he said.

"There's a scene where somebody is slamming their fist against the steering wheel of the car in frustration, and I'd completely forgotten but I have done exactly that," he said.

"I've just had sheer frustration, anger, had to stop driving because I couldn't see through the tears."

The four-part mini-series centres on the story of postmaster Alan Bates, played by Toby Jones, who drove the campaign to expose the scandal.

It focuses on the legal battle he led and won, paving the way for dozens of convictions to be overturned.

• Post Office victims' compensation pot cut by half

• Call for Post Office convictions to be overturned

• Why were hundreds of sub-postmasters prosecuted?

Mr Murray told BBC North West Tonight he noticed account discrepancies on the Horizon computer system at the Hope Farm Road Post Office and raised it with the Post Office.

The Post Office blamed him - telling him to not trust his staff - and ordered him to pay back the money.

Mr Murray was unaware the man who ran the branch before him, Martin Griffiths, was also accused of stealing thousands and had taken his own life.

He said: "I was told - everyone was told - it can't be Horizon; nobody else is having these troubles."

Then he said he learned about Mr Griffiths and how it had been "exactly the same troubles and exactly the same behaviour from the Post Office".

Pete Murray was ordered to pay £65,000 over account discrepancies at the Hope Farm Road Post Office but it was caused by IT issues

Mr Murray was suspended from his post but never prosecuted, and for years he paid £1,000 a month to the Post Office despite telling them he had done nothing wrong.

In 2019, two High Court trials found the Post Office was wrong to force sub-postmasters to pay for discrepancies and they received compensation.

Although Mr Murray was not one of the group who went to trial, he has since received some compensation from the Post Office and sold his offices back to the company but he said he was still left with anxiety.

He said he hoped the prime time drama helped people understand the sub-postmasters' plight.

A public inquiry into the scandal is due to hear from senior Post Office and government officials this year.

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