Mr Bates vs the Post Office: Woman says TV drama left her crying

Pauline Stonehouse says her life "imploded" after her wrongful conviction

A former sub-postmistress who lost her home after being convicted of stealing £15,000 says she "cried and screamed" watching the Post Office accounting scandal brought to life on TV.

Pauline Stonehouse, who ran a branch in Seaburn, Sunderland, was one of more than 700 managers found guilty of false accounting, theft and fraud based on figures from faulty software.

Her conviction was overturned in 2022.

The government said it was looking at all options to resolve the scandal.

Mrs Stonehouse told BBC Radio Newcastle the 2008 court case saw her life "implode" as she lost her business and was declared bankrupt after being sentenced to a six-month community order.

"Life was very difficult for a while. It didn't get better for a long time," she said.

"My youngest daughter was only about a year old [at the time], the oldest one was about nine. We lost everything and had to start again from scratch."

'I could see myself'

The scandal has been dramatised by ITV in Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and the series has pushed the issue to the top of the political agenda.

Mr Bates vs the Post Office told the story of the Post Office's Horizon IT scandal

It brought back many difficult memories for the now 51-year-old Mrs Stonehouse and her family.

"My husband and I binge-watched all four episodes. I sat and I cried and screamed. I had to leave the room on a few occasions because I was so angry.

"The story resonated so strongly. I could see myself [in those characters] because that was me - sitting there till all hours, checking and rechecking and rechecking, phone calls one after the other and getting no help."

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Despite having received "some interim payments", Mrs Stonehouse says she is still waiting for a compensation deal to be fully agreed and is calling for the process to be speeded up.

'Dragging it out'

"To get people's convictions overturned more quickly would be a good idea and the compensation side of things definitely needs to be made a lot easier," she said.

"It's taking so much time because there's so much back and forth with solicitors and forensic accountants. Yes, information has got to be gathered, but I think we've all had enough now.

"We need to get some semblance of normality back. They're just dragging it out for us.

"For a long time afterwards I got on with my life even though it was difficult. Then once I started the process of getting my conviction overturned it brought it back to the forefront.

"It's been very stressful the last couple of years having to relive everything. It makes my health difficult and I'm angry a lot of the time.

"The sooner it's dealt with, the sooner the last 15 or 16 years can be put in the distant past."

More than 700 people were convicted based on figures from the faulty software

The scandal has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the UK has ever seen.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office, which is wholly owned by the government, prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses based on information from a computer system called Horizon.

Many said they had repeatedly reported problems with the software.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has met with senior judges to discuss possible solutions as the government investigates ways to overturn the many remaining convictions.

Adam Crozier, who was CEO of Royal Mail Group between 2003 and early 2010, said: "I would like to express my heartfelt sympathies to the individuals and families who were so wronged by the tragic miscarriages of justice and for whom justice has been denied so long.

"While I did not have any involvement in the Horizon issue during my time at Royal Mail, I feel deeply sorry for those whose lives were ruined by what happened and stand ready to participate in the inquiry's continued efforts to make sure this tragic situation never happens again."