Post Office inquiry: 'My wife died not knowing who was stealing'

"I'm nothing like the person I was when I started at the Post Office with my wife," said John Heath

A former sub-postmaster has said his wife died not knowing who was stealing money from the Post Office she ran.

John Heath's wife, Helen, ran a Post Office in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, and was one of hundreds of people accused in the Post Office scandal.

"She [Helen] died not knowing whether it was a member of her family that was stealing from her [or] one of her friends who were our employees.

"She had no idea. She carried that to her grave and that is unforgivable."

More than 700 people were prosecuted after faulty software, called Horizon, made it look like money was missing from their branches.

"The Post Office destroyed my family," said Mr Heath, who lives in Melksham.

He explained the software installed in the branch "would come out with random figures" when his wife tried to balance the books each Wednesday.

When they phoned the helpline they were always told 'you're the only people having this problem'.

Vikki Heath was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and was told the stress she had been under was a major contributor

Mr Heath's daughter, Vikki, said: "The big tragedy in our family situation is that my mum went to her grave thinking that people were stealing and that is awful.

"That is something that me and my family will have to live with."

Following a campaign by former postmaster Alan Bates - recently dramatised for ITV - Mr Heath realised they were not alone.

He said that following his wife's death he was appointed to run the branch without any training.

'Obliterated'

He and his son, who also worked there, had "exactly the same problems" as his wife.

Ms Heath explained that her father had "suffered hugely".

"He has had two strokes since the whole thing started. His mental and physical health has deteriorated hugely," she said.

Ms Heath said he was "very unrecognisable compared to who he was. Completely obliterated of body and soul."

Helen Heath (R) died without knowing how the money had gone missing from her Post Office branch

Mr Heath said he eventually arranged for an audit to come in and check the branch.

"That's when we saw the true nature of the Post Office," he said.

"They were absolutely awful, pushing their weight [around]. They came in like a bunch of stormtroopers."

At the end of the audit, they asked for the keys to the premises and Mr Heath refused to hand them over.

In the October they terminated him from the job.

"By December I'd had a full stroke and then three months after that I had a minor stroke," he said.

Earlier this week, former Post Office boss Paula Vennells announced she was handing back her CBE after facing mounting pressure over the scandal.

But Mr Heath said: "She should be leading a stampede of senior people into jail."

Mrs Heath's life insurance payout helped to make up some of the missing money and Mr Heath was not prosecuted.

Ms Heath thinks her mother (R) "would feel exonerated" to see the current support for people like her

The government has pledged to bring in a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims" of the scandal.

"I don't call it compensation, I call it recovery of money stolen. I want that paid as quickly as they possibly can," said Mr Heath.

"They took my health, my family and my sense of wellbeing. They've taken everything, literally. Brought me to my knees."

Ms Heath said now seeing all the support the victims are receiving would make her mum "incredibly happy".

A spokesperson for the Post Office said they are "doing all we can to right the wrongs of the past".

Fujitsu, which developed the software at the heart of the affair, said it was sorry for its role in sub-postmasters' suffering.