Inquiry: UK Post Office scandal may have led to at least 13 suicides
Another 59 people contemplated suicide over the scandal, one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history, according to the first findings from the inquiry.
Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of people who worked at Post Office branches were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting because faulty software showed a shortfall.
Some workers were jailed and others were forced into bankruptcy and lost their homes. Many of them suffered health problems, breakdowns in their relationships and were ostracised by their communities.
While the scandal has been linked to four suicides, the inquiry chair's Wyn Williams, a retired judge, said the total could be higher than 13, with some deaths going unreported.
"Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment," he said in a speech after the publication. "Many businesses and homes have been lost, bankruptcies have occurred, marriages and families have been wrecked."
"Tragically, I heard too of people whom it is said that they were driven to take their own lives," Williams added.
Compensation claims
The report found that about 10,000 people were claiming compensation through four schemes, and that number was likely to rise in the coming months.
The problems at the Post Office, which is state-owned but operates as a private business, were known for years.
But the full scale of the injustice didn't become widely known until 2024, when a TV docudrama saw the scandal hit national headlines and galvanised support for victims.
The culprit was software called Horizon, which the Post Office introduced 25 years ago across branches to automate sales accounting. When the software showed false account shortfalls, the Post Office accused branch managers of dishonesty and obliged them to repay the money.
Overall, the inquiry said that about 1,000 people were prosecuted and convicted based on evidence from the faulty system. The government has since introduced legislation to reverse the convictions and compensate the victims.
Jo Hamilton, a former Post Office manager and a lead campaigner, said that the inquiry's report "shows the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us".
In the 162-page first volume of his report, Williams urged immediate action to ensure "full and fair" compensation for victims. It was the first to be published from the inquiry, which is expected to issue a further report at a later date that will potentially attribute blame.
In response, UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he welcomed the report and was "committed to ensuring wronged subpostmasters are given full, fair and prompt redress".
"The recommendations contained in the report require careful reflection, including on further action to complete the redress schemes," he added. "Government will promptly respond to the recommendations in full in parliament."
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