Post Office Horizon scandal: Peter Holmes widow seeks consequences

Peter Holmes died aged 68 in 2015 from a brain tumour

A widow who fought to clear her husband's name after he was caught in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal says she wants bosses to face consequences.

Peter Holmes was one of 39 subpostmasters to have convictions quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2021.

Appearing before a public inquiry into the scandal, his widow Marion Holmes said he "shut down" before his death.

Another subpostmaster, Pauline Stonehouse, said she wanted the Post Office held accountable.

Mr Holmes, who blamed an error in the Fujitsu-developed Horizon accounting system for a £46,049 shortfall, died of a brain tumour in 2015 aged 68.

He had worked as a subpostmaster at Jesmond Post Office in Newcastle for 13 years, having been a police officer for 12 years.

In 2009, Mr Holmes denied theft but admitted four counts of false accounting on the basis he had covered up the shortfall.

At Newcastle Crown Court he was given a three-month curfew as part of his community order sentence.

The Court of Appeal quashed Mr Holmes' convictions after the case was pursued by his wife, with judges saying his prosecution was "an affront to justice".

Mrs Holmes, who showed a picture of her husband to the inquiry, said he had two days of training on Horizon, which he said was "not adequate" and "nobody knew what they were talking about".

Marion Holmes had a picture of her husband with her at the inquiry

"It didn't touch on how to balance, which is a major part of the Post Office, and when he asked questions no-one knew what the answers were," she said.

She said she did not know her husband was having difficulties until auditors arrived and he was sacked, their home was searched by investigators and he was interviewed.

"No-one ever asked him 'have you taken [the money]?', it was always 'what have you done with it?'," she said, adding: "It must have been awful [for him]."

Mrs Holmes said her husband of almost 52 years was the "last person who would ever take anything", and recalled him once making a 20-minute drive back to a restaurant after he realised a meal had been inadvertently left off their group's bill.

She said the weekly accounts had to be balanced every Wednesday or the shop would not be allowed to open, which posed a problem as Thursday was the day people came in for "pensions and benefit" payments.

'Felt worthless'

Mrs Holmes said the Post Office had "taught" that if the balance came up as incorrect, postmasters should enter a "false number" and the "system would sort itself out".

She said her husband was "always early to anywhere" and was always the first person in so he could prepare for a busy day ahead.

She said the Post Office later claimed his diligence and work ethic was actually him going in early to "pinch money".

Mrs Holmes said after his conviction her husband "shut down" and felt "helpless, hopeless and worthless".

When he died people said they would "miss his sense of humour", but Mrs Holmes told the inquiry she had "forgotten he had one" in the years after his erroneous conviction.

She said getting his conviction quashed was "bittersweet" as he died before his name was cleared, but it was "lovely to hear somebody say he's innocent".

When asked by inquiry lawyer Ruth Kennedy what she wanted from the Post Office now, Mrs Holmes replied: "Fairness."

She said she wanted all those involved in the scandal from "the Post Office, Fujitsu and government" to sit in a room and read all the "harrowing" witness statements, adding: "Maybe at the end they will realise we are people whose lives they have devastated.

"They say they are sorry, words are cheap.

"We couldn't stand up in court and say sorry and walk out, we had consequences to pay and so should anybody involved in this."

Pauline Stonehouse bought a Post Office in Sunderland in 2004

Also addressing the inquiry was Pauline Stonehouse, an experienced post office worker in London, who bought Seaburn Post Office in Sunderland with her husband Chris in 2004 after moving to the region.

She said shortfalls started to appear after a new system was installed in 2005 that amounted to several hundreds of pounds a week.

Mrs Stonehouse, 49, said she called the Horizon helpline but they "weren't very helpful" and only ever reassured her a transaction correction would come, but it "never did".

She said a system trainer had "confirmed everything I was doing was correct and I was doing nothing wrong", but the problems persisted.

She initially tried to cover the shortfalls herself but it was "too much money", equating to £300 a week, so she eventually admitted to a Post Office manager that she had been saying the accounts were correct when they weren't.

Auditors arrived and told her there was a £15,000 shortfall.

'Pack of lies'

Mrs Stonehouse told the inquiry she hoped they would find what had gone wrong as "they were supposed to be experts" but they instead blamed her.

In interview, she was repeatedly asked what she had done with the money with her husband also accused of stealing it.

Mrs Stonehouse said the Post Office worker interviewing her said: "I have to prosecute you to set an example so others won't do it because you are essentially the first."

Mrs Stonehouse told the inquiry: "We now know that was a complete pack of lies."

She said she felt "shocked" by the treatment and as if she had been portrayed as a "horrible master criminal".

'Apology never enough'

She was charged with six counts of false accounting which she admitted, for which she was given a suspended six-month prison sentence.

Mrs Stonehouse, whose conviction was later quashed, said she felt as if she had no choice but to plead guilty as she was "fearful of going to prison" and leaving her two young daughters.

The family was declared bankrupt and they lost their business and home, and they felt unable to visit Seaburn again for years.

Mrs Stonehouse told the inquiry she wanted someone from the Post Office held accountable for "ruining so many lives", adding: "An apology and compensation will never be enough."

She said: "I used to be such a confident woman, I never expected my life to take the turn it did.

"Since all this has happened I've lost both my parents, they never saw me have my name cleared."

The inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams continues.