Post Office scandal: 'I sold my home to pay off debts'

Hundreds were caught up in the Post Office computer scandal

A sub-postmistress has said she went into "freefall" after being falsely accused of false accounting.

Sarah Osolinski, 65, told an inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal she paid in at least £25,000 of her own money to try to balance the books.

A fault in a Post Office computer system led to a shortfall of thousands of pounds in the Gaer Park Post Office in Newport which she ran.

She said it had been "the worst experience of my life".

Ms Osolinski, who took charge of the branch in October 1996, told the inquiry that after the introduction of the Horizon computer system, there were regular discrepancies in accounting which she said she had to put right out of her pocket.

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She said she "dreaded" trying to balance the books as "I knew I couldn't make a £200 mistake every week".

Ms Osolinski told the inquiry she was suspended after an audit found a £2,000 shortage and that the Post Office investigators offered no support.

"It was obvious from the outset they had made up their mind of my guilt," she said.

She subsequently suffered from "chronic pain, depression, anxiety and fatigue".

"I slept 24 hours in a row or not at all," she told the inquiry, adding she had to sell her home to pay off debts.

'I doubted my own ability'

The experience had been a "living nightmare", and she stressed that she and the other victims of the scandal needed immediate financial assistance.

Sub-postmaster John Bowman, 73, took over the Brynna Post Office in Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf in 1998 and planned to pass it on to his daughter when he eventually retired.

He told the inquiry that when the Horizon software was introduced to his branch, problems arose immediately. He said his area manager told him to repay them immediately as "there would be consequences if I didn't and the Post Office would take action".

Mr Bowman said he "began to doubt my own ability" and extra training he asked for did not materialise. He described another area manager as "abrupt, defensive and aggressive".

"I felt drained, banging my head against a brick wall. I knew I wasn't making mistakes week after week after week."

He told the inquiry he paid at least £20,000 of his own money into the post office to try to balance the books, much of which he borrowed.

'Anxiety and depression'

"I lost weight. I was not sleeping or eating. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression due to the problems in the Post Office."

When he was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, Mr Bowman said he went back to work against doctors' advice within two weeks of an operation because he could not afford more time off.

He told the inquiry that led to more longer term health problems, including an inoperable hernia.

Mr Bowman said his relationship with his wife was affected by the experience and he had to give up a number of roles as a community leader.

"The Post Office managed to destroy in two years all that I'd strived to achieve in the previous 40 years. My reputation, financial security, mental health and wellbeing.

"It nearly destroyed my marriage and family life. It is only my family that saw me through that dark period."

Christian Clement, 46, told the inquiry that he had paid the Post Office £80,000 to £88,000 over ten years while he was running the Manselton Post Office in Swansea.

He said that after the introduction of the Horizon system, the support available was very poor with those on a helpline "just sounding like they were reading from a script, pushing me from pillar to post. It was just frustrating."

Mr Clement said the shortfalls were deducted from his payslips, ranging from £800 to £5,500 in a single month. He said the Post Office left him out in the cold.

He told the inquiry he was now working as a delivery driver to make ends meet, but still had around £56,000 in debts.

"I've taken anxiety tablets and drowned my sorrows in alcohol. It cost me my relationship of 17 years. The pressure was too much."