We were classed as criminals - Telford ex-sub-postmistress

Former sub-postmistresses Janet Skinner (left) and Tracey Felsted (right) said Paula Vennells should be stripped of her CBE

A former sub-postmistress who was jailed aged 19 in connection with the Post Office Horizon scandal said someone needed to be held accountable.

Tracy Felstead, from Telford, was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution in 2002.

She was wrongly accused of stealing £11,503 while working at Camberwell Green Post Office in London.

Ministers have been meeting to consider ways of clearing the names of hundreds of sub-postmasters.

More than 700 branch managers were convicted of false accounting, theft and fraud based on evidence from faulty software over 16 years - now described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.

Speaking to BBC News, Ms Felstead, who had her conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2021, said accountability was needed.

"We were classed as criminals by the Post Office, now it's their turn to actually be investigated," she said. "Somebody needs to be held accountable for everybody."

Ms Felstead said she was found guilty through just her signature on paperwork, but there was no actual evidence of theft.

"I wouldn't plead guilty to something I hadn't done," she said.

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Mr Bates vs the Post Office, an ITV drama about the scandal, has brought renewed media attention to the issue.

The former sub-postmistress said there was a political will for a single act to overturn all the convictions but urged caution "just in case you have that one person that has committed a crime".

Tracy Felstead (R) pictured with fellow sub postmistress Janet Skinner outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2021

She agreed the Post Office should be removed from the appeals process and its former chief executive, Paula Vennells, should be stripped of her CBE.

"In my eyes, she shouldn't have had it in the first place," Ms Felstead said.

More than one million people have signed an online petition calling for Ms Vennells to lose the honour.

Ms Vennells has been contacted for comment on the petition.

Rubbina Shaheen, who worked at the Greenfields Post Office in Shrewsbury, was jailed for a year in 2010 after being wrongfully convicted of false accounting and theft.

Mohamed and Rubbina Shaheen said they want proper compensation

She and her husband, Mohamed, lost their home and were forced to live in a van.

Mrs Shaheen always maintained her innocence and in April 2021, the Court of Appeal confirmed Mrs Shaheen was innocent and that the Post Office's computer system Horizon, that was to blame.

Mr Shaheen said it was "exciting" the government is taking action following the TV drama.

He said his wife has received some compensation, but they were still fighting for more.

"Any monies that has been paid up is not going to bring our lives back for what we have suffered," he said.

'Mental health not good'

But Mrs Shaheen said she has struggled to move on from what happened and the current interest is "bringing bad memories all over again."

"You try to get away with it and you try to live a normal life but at the end of the day it just stirs it up," she said.

Mrs Shaheen said she still "struggles" with what happened "every day" and has sleepless nights.

"My mental health is not good," she said.

As pressure mounts on the government to act Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, was due to meet the minister responsible for the Post Office, Kevin Hollinrake, on Monday.

The Metropolitan Police is now investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences arising from the prosecutions.

A public inquiry into the scandal is also ongoing.

A Post Office spokesperson has previously said it shares the "aims of the public inquiry to get to the truth of what went wrong in the past and establish accountability".