Post Office scandal: West Byfleet sub-postmistress's husband racially attacked

Davinder Misra with his wife Seema, whose conviction was overturned in 2021

The husband of a Surrey sub-postmistress says he was racially and physically attacked after her wrongful conviction in the Post Office scandal.

Seema Misra was pregnant with their second son when she was jailed for an alleged £70,000 shortfall at their West Byfleet branch.

Her husband said four or five attackers beat him up on three occasions, having seen him in a local paper.

Davinder Misra said he had tried to protect his 10-year-old son.

He told BBC Radio Surrey that one of the attackers had referred to him using a racial slur.

"They pushed me, they were kicking me in the whole face, but I knew if I resisted, I would have had more kicks," he said.

"I had to let them, I couldn't scream in case my son heard, came down and they beat him up."

Mrs Misra's conviction is one of 39 quashed in 2021.

Nobody is above the law

Mrs Misra said: "Accountability is the main fight. People who knew, who are culprits, we need to put them behind bars, now not in 2026 or 2030.

"We need to set a right example that the judicial system does work. Nobody is above the law.

"We want to get compensation for each and every person that suffered so we can at least move on."

Seema Misra was pregnant with her second son when she was jailed

The couple went to see the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP) for help but were turned down as non-members as they had resigned from the Post Office.

Saj Hussain, the federation's current south-east regional director, said: "Time and time again, we were reassured by the Post Office that there was nothing wrong with the IT system.

"In hindsight, I wish we had dug in deeper."

Mr Hussain said the federation, based at Shoreham, West Sussex, had changed its policy so former members could be helped and all issues were logged.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences arising from more than 700 prosecutions.

Asked if the police should look into the NFSP, Mr Hussain said: "We mustn't leave any stone untouched. Nobody should escape investigation. If they need to investigate the NFSP we're there.

"We should have checked on the Horizon system, we should have engaged expert advice, engineers, instead of the sub-postmasters doing it themselves," he added.

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