Latest news with #LeeCastleton
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Horizon victim Lee Castleton sues Post Office and Fujitsu for £4m
Former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton is suing the Post Office and Fujitsu for more than £4m in damages over the Horizon IT scandal, court documents Castleton is one of the most high-profile of hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted after faulty software said money was missing from their branch became the first individual to take legal action against both organisations and this is the first time full details of a complex compensation claim have been made Post Office said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings but was "engaging fully" in the process. Mr Castleton was portrayed by actor Will Mellor in the hit ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office. The former sub-postmaster was awarded an OBE for services to justice in recognition of his tireless to the BBC about his £4,487m claim he said: "I want it to be made public. This is what they did to me and my family."It's not about the money. What matters to me is that I get vindication from the court."In 2007, Mr Castleton lost a two-year legal battle against the Post Office after it pursued him to recover £25,000 of cash it alleged was missing from his branch in Bridlington, East his legal insurance ran out, Mr Castleton represented himself in court and was landed with a bill of £321,000 in legal costs which he couldn't pay and declared was the only civil claim the Post Office brought against a official inquiry into the scandal heard evidence that the Post Office knew Mr Castleton would likely be made bankrupt by the action but wanted to make an example of him to dissuade others from pursuing claims. Claimed losses The court documents reveal that in Mr Castleton's case his quantifiable financial losses include:£940,000 past lost earnings plus interest£864,000 future loss of earnings£933,000 past pension losses£133,000 past property losses£232,000 past losses of rental profits plus interest£109,000 loss from sale of business plus interestHe's also seeking general damages – these are losses that can't be measured in pounds and pence. They include:£30,000 for mental distress plus interest£30,000 for stigma and damage to reputation plus interest£45,000 for harassment£50,000 for maliciously causing his bankruptcy 'Startling' "When your life, as well as your family's, has literally been ruined it results in a substantial claim," said his solicitor Simon Goldberg, from Simons Muirhead Burton."The reason it's so startling is that it's the first time that the forensic details of a sub-postmaster's claim been made public. Like many others, Lee has a very complex case, and the figures have been calculated by experts who are leaders in their field," he Castleton has never applied to the relevant compensation scheme after losing faith in the fairness of the process. He wants a judge to decide what he is owed and to have "justice" through the courts. His legal team allege that the Post Office's decision to pursue a civil claim against him was an "abuse of process of the court." And that the eventual judgment against him was obtained by fraud. They also all claim the state-run institution conspired with Fujitsu to pervert the course of justice by "deliberately and dishonestly" withholding included knowledge of bugs and errors as well as the issue of remote access – the ability of some Fujitsu employees to access sub-postmasters' branch accounts without their knowledge. The Japanese owned company developed the software and is responsible for operating and maintaining the Horizon IT Castleton was one of the 555 sub-postmasters who took part in the landmark court case against the Post Office and won. Both sides agreed to end the legal dispute. But Mr Castleton claims the settlement doesn't apply to his current claims as well as alleging it was obtained by he argues the Post Office concealed the true reason why the former Fujitsu software engineer, Gareth Jenkins, wasn't called as a witness at the Jenkins provided testimony in a number of prosecutions. But in 2013, the Post Office was warned that he had failed to disclose information "in plain breach of his duty as an expert witness". The sub-postmasters weren't told about the concerns as they fought their Castleton is seeking both the civil judgement and the bankruptcy order against him to be set aside on these grounds.A Post Office spokesperson said: "We recognise the devastating impact of the Horizon IT Scandal on former postmasters like Mr Castleton. Post Office today is committed to doing all we can to help those affected get closure. "We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings but are engaging fully in the process."Fujitsu declined to comment to the BBC.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- BBC News
'We suffered bullying, anorexia and being branded as thieves'
Millie Castleton was only eight years old when her father lost his job managing the post office in Bridlington, Yorkshire, and her family was branded as "thieves and liars" in the local a decade later, after facing bullying at school, developing an eating disorder and dropping out of university, she is still struggling with the story was singled out by a report published this week, looking into the scandal around subpostmasters who were wrongly accused of fiddling the hundreds of other children suffered similar experiences, shunned by friends, suffering financial hardship, and watching their parents fall apart under the strain of being accused. "Part of me will always feel a little broken-up," Millie told the official inquiry into the Post Office scandal, which produced this week's report."That nagging voice in my head still says ugly things sometimes. It still tells me that my past and my family's struggle will define me, that it will be a branding on my skin forever. Broken, thief or liar."Like many subpostmasters, Millie's father, Lee Castleton, challenged the Post Office's allegations that he had taken funds from the branch he it took years to win official recognition that people had been wrongly accused and that faulty software on the Post Office system could make it look as though money was missing when it wasn' the meantime, Millie told the inquiry "confusion, frustration and anxiety... was leeching into my home".She developed epilepsy and at 17 her mental health began to suffer. She experienced "self-loathing, depression and feeling like a burden to [her] family".Millie managed to take up a place at university but dropped out at the start of her second year after developing now, at 26, she finds it hard to trust anyone, she says."I sabotage myself by not asking for help with anything. Asking for equipment, advice or resources feels terrifying. Like I'm unworthy." The report provides glimpses into the impact on other Powell's daughter, aged 10, went to live with a friend when Janine, postmistress at a branch near Tiverton in Devon, was convicted and spent five months in prison. The separation from her mother, change of school and deep-seated unhappiness in her new home formed a traumatic experience for the child, the inquiry's report states, leading to mental Thomson, a subpostmaster in a rural community near Alloa in Scotland, said his children, aged 10 and 13 at the time, were teased and bullied at school, while his wife became reclusive and depressed because she was "so embarrassed and ashamed".Mahesh Kumar Kalia said his family was "dysfunctional" and his parents separated after their relationship became "toxic and turbulent" following his father's conviction. Mahesh and his father were estranged for 17 years until he understood his father had been wrongly convicted."Between the ages of 17 and 35, I did not have a relationship with my dad. We will never get back this time," he told the government has confirmed that it is setting up a scheme, along the lines recommended in the report, to compensate "close family members" if they "suffered serious adverse consequences" from the scandal. So far there are no details of how the scheme will work or how soon they will see any results."We don't want to wait like our parents for three or four year for claims to be settled," said Rebekah established the charity Lost Chances a year and a half ago for the children of wronged subpostmasters and said there was a sense of relief that their situation was now being of the 250 people who have joined Lost Chances had their education disrupted, had to take care of parents or siblings, some watching parents become alcoholics, or have other breakdowns, she could help some of them return to education or pay for therapy they might otherwise not be able to afford, she said."Loss of childhood - we're not sure how that gets put into a claim," she added. That is what happened in her case, she spent her teenage years looking after her five siblings and working in a chip shop at the weekends while her mother became a said Lost Chances would be involved in the process of drawing up the new compensation scheme, meeting with ministers in the Department for Business in the coming weeks. The report acknowledges that it may prove difficult to agree which family members should be entitled to compensation, what evidence should be required for a claim to be made, and what the scale of the compensation should Professor Richard Moorhead, an expert in law and ethics at the University of Exeter, said the stories about children highlighted by the report had been "heartbreaking" and welcomed the recommendation for compensation."Compensation will not right the wrongs or reclaim the time. Their lives have been blighted, but I hope and expect it to make a substantial difference to improving the chances of those children," he said.
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- The Guardian
Innocent subpostmasters went to jail, but now it is clear: the Post Office boss class belong there instead
Millie Castleton was eight when her subpostmaster father was falsely accused of theft by the Post Office. Immediately, her family were branded thieves and liars. She moved school, where she became the target of bullying for her father's 'theft'. The verbal abuse was followed by physical. Racked by stress, meanwhile, Millie's mother developed epilepsy, and Millie began sleeping with her to be on hand when she suffered seizures. The child became depressed and self-loathing, feeling like 'a burden' to her family. She won a place at university but developed anorexia and could not continue. In her absolute gut-punch of a statement to Sir Wyn Williams' Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, whose first report volume dropped on Tuesday morning, Millie wrote: 'I fought. I tried. I am better for it … That nagging voice in my head still says ugly things sometimes. It still tells me that my past and my family's struggle will define me, that it will be a branding on my skin forever … I'm 26 and am very conscious that I may never be able to fully commit to natural trust. But my family is still fighting. I'm still fighting, as are many hundreds still involved in the Post Office trial.' How does every one of these stories feel like the saddest thing you've ever heard? How did Millie's father, an entirely innocent man, end up hounded into homelessness and a £310,000 'debt' to the Post Office? How in the ever-living Fujitsu does Lee Castleton still not have justice nearly two decades on? That story is just one case highlighted in the first volume of the report, with Williams calling the human impact of the Post Office scandal 'profoundly disturbing'. Other takeouts? The most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history just got wider. We used to think that 900 innocent subpostmasters were convicted after the Post Office pursued them for branch shortfalls – shortfalls that were not in fact down to theft, but to a computer system the Post Office and its developer, Fujitsu, knew was faulty. Today we learned there were in fact approximately 1,000 convictions. At least 10,000 victims were eligible for compensation, and that number is rising. And there have been even more tragic numerical upticks. It was previously thought that six victims of the Horizon scandal had taken their own lives; today we learned it was at least 13. A further 59 victims contemplated suicide at various points in their ordeal, and 10 of those actively attempted to take their own lives. At least one was admitted to a mental health facility on more than one occasion. Many self-harmed. Many say they began to abuse alcohol. Some numbers haven't changed, though – the tally of people charged for ruining this many thousands of lives still stands at precisely zero. That blame side of matters will be addressed in the next phase of Williams' report, and a significant police investigation is already under way. But the inquiry chair wanted to use this first volume to urgently catalyse the 'full, fair and prompt' redress the government keeps saying is due to victims. In fact, he's very keen the government should spell out what full and fair redress means. Ideally by, like, yesterday – but in the absence of that, ASAFP. That's not Sir Wyn's abbreviation, I should stress. But it's very much the vibe of this compelling report, given the number of victims still to be compensated by any one of the four redress schemes. Of these, three are run by the government, and one by the Post Office. The Post Office! That feels totally normal – like appointing the wolf as loss adjuster for the three little pigs' house insurance claims. Yet even at this first stage, Williams was clear that these thousands of individual horror stories were not the result of some kind of antagonist-free natural disaster. They happened because there were perpetrators. Someone blew thousands of houses down. His report states that all of these people and their wider families are to be regarded as victims of 'wholly unacceptable behaviour perpetrated by a number of individuals employed by and/or associated with the Post Office and Fujitsu'. Indeed, a notable feature of today's report is how many of the victims had begged for help when their Horizon terminals started showing weird shortfalls. One postmistress had made 256 calls to the helpdesk about Horizon problems. She would later be incarcerated and denied contact with her daughter on the latter's 18th birthday. Her daughter died the following year. I have to say that even selecting which glimpses of suffering to include in this column feels disrespectful to all the others – the fact is that every single one is a tragedy whose ripples can only be guessed at. Small wonder Williams recommended that close family members affected by this are also compensated. And so to another of those families. The facts of Harjinder Butoy's story are modern, but its emotional dynamics feel like something straight out of a Thomas Hardy novel. Here was a man in the prime of his life, with a thriving small business established with a loan from his brother. Then, a twist of fate … and the descent is dizzyingly rapid. The total loss of reputation, a court case, imprisonment. His shame – the shame of an innocent man – reported in newspapers from the Daily Telegraph to the Punjab Times. Harjinder's whole family were sucked into the vortex of his misfortune – his wife was left homeless and penniless with their three young children; his brother's loan could never be repaid; his parents gave everything to try to ameliorate his situation, though everything wasn't enough. Mr Butoy spent longer in prison than any other victim of the Post Office scandal, and 14 years passed between his suspension and his conviction being quashed. His bankruptcy dogged him for a decade or more, his mental health has been destroyed, and he has never been able to find work. It feels impossible not to think of Harjinder's fall in counterpoint to the seemingly unstoppable rise of senior executives at Fujitsu, and most particularly at the Post Office, where the boss class secured bonuses, directorships, and – who knows? – maybe even a few places in hell. Harjinder broke a long silence on the eve of this report's publication. 'I just want everyone to know the impact, what's happened to us all,' he said. 'But I also need someone to be punished and let them go to prison and feel like what we've been through.' Quite so. But do 'someones' like that go to prison – or is it only people like Harjinder Butoy who do? That is the key question which remains, and no country where the little people pay for the sins of the bigwigs should ever consider itself properly civilised. Compensation should be full and fair – but so should justice. Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
BBC News
08-07-2025
- BBC News
Post Office report to lay bare human impact of Horizon scandal
Update: Date: 10:48 BST Title: Highlighters at the ready, here's how today will work Content: Emily AtkinsonLive editor, at the inquiry Good morning from the Oval in south London. I'm here with a BBC team to bring you the findings of the first volume of the final Post Office inquiry report. A short while ago, we and other journalists were led into a room, handed a paper copy of the report, and given three hours to read, digest and package the key lines before they're released publicly. During this time, we're not able to contact anyone outside the room. (Don't fear, I wrote this post a little earlier!) There is one exception, though. We're given a short window to discuss the report with our editors back at base right before it's published at 12:00 BST. While you wait - and we get frantically reading and highlighting - our team in the newsroom will continue taking you through the background to this scandal. See you on the other side. Update: Date: 10:39 BST Title: Wrongly convicted while pregnant and strained family life - some of those affected by the scandal Content: Seema Misra was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2010, while pregnant, after being accused of stealing £74,000 The Post Office scandal had a devastating impact on many sub-postmasters and their families - like Lee Castleton in our last post. Many faced financial ruin. Some were sent to prison over the false accusations, while others died waiting for justice. Here are some of their stories: Anjana (left) and Baljit Sethi (right)'s son, Adeep, previously told the BBC family life became a struggle for his parents - he said his father still finds it hard to talk about what happened Update: Date: 10:19 BST Title: Former sub-postmaster: Report will bring up painful memories, but it's important to move forward Content: We've heard from a few sub-postmasters already this morning, ahead of the report's release. Lee Castleton was declared bankrupt after losing a two-year legal battle when the Post Office falsely accused him of stealing £25,000 from his branch in Bridlington, East Yorkshire in 2004. Speaking to our colleagues on Radio 4's Today programme, Castleton says a recurring issue is that the current compensation schemes are "disruptive". The part of the report being published today will not apportion blame for the failures of the Horizon system, or the way the Post Office reacted, instead it will address the cost of the scandal on the hundreds of wrongly-prosecuted sub-postmasters as well as compensation. People on both sides "are still fighting a war", Castleton says, adding that some of those affected continue to be "victimised" today. He says today's report will revisit "painful times for all the group" - "but it is important to look at the impacts in order to move forward". Update: Date: 10:12 BST Title: This report is sure to be damning - but justice is still a long way off Content: Emma SimpsonBusiness correspondent, at the inquiry This is another big milestone in the long road to justice for the victims caught up in the nightmare of the Post Office scandal. The harm and the suffering they've endured has been immense. The hearings began with sub-postmasters telling their stories. Wyn Williams put them at the heart of the inquiry's work, which has pored over several decades worth of technical evidence and grilled many of those who had a role in ruining so many lives. Now nearly three years on, the sub-postmasters will get recognition of what they've been through from an official public inquiry. Williams will surely be damning in his findings. He could hardly be anything less given all the evidence he has heard. The victims, and the public, want people to be held to account. But it's going to be months before we find out who Williams will point the finger of blame at. Justice is still a long way off. Update: Date: 10:08 BST Title: Six key things to know about the Post Office inquiry Content: Alan Bates, a former sub-postmaster, has long campaigned for redress for victims of the scandal Update: Date: 10:00 BST Title: A landmark day for victims of the Post Office scandal Content: Emily AtkinsonLive editor, at the inquiry Today, the Post Office inquiry, which has spanned more than two years, will share the first part of its final report on the Horizon IT scandal. It's a moment those affected have waited a long time for. In 1999, the Post Office rolled out new accounting software, Horizon, to its network of local branches. Soon after, unexplained shortfalls began appearing in sub-postmasters' accounts. Some used their own money to cover the losses, others had their contracts terminated or were aggressively pursued by the Post Office in the criminal and civil courts. Ultimately, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted of false accounting, theft and fraud, based on faulty Horizon data. Some 236 were sent to prison. The victims and their families say they lost their livelihoods, faced bankruptcy, endured marriage breakdowns, addiction, stress-related health issues and even premature death. Almost six years have passed since 555 sub-postmasters, led by Alan Bates, were vindicated in the High Court. The ruling played a crucial role in exposing the scandal, but many still await compensation - something this part of the report will address. It's due to drop at midday - stay with us for live updates, analysis and reaction throughout the day.
Sky News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Post Office scandal: Victims say government's control of redress schemes should be taken away
Post Office scandal victims are calling for redress schemes to be taken away from the government completely, ahead of the public inquiry publishing its first findings. Phase 1, which is due back on Tuesday, will report on the human impact of what happened as well as compensation schemes. "Take (them) off the government completely," says Jo Hamilton OBE, a high-profile campaigner and former sub-postmistress, who was convicted of stealing from her branch in 2008. "It's like the fox in charge of the hen house," she adds, "because they were the only shareholders of Post Office". "So they're in it up to their necks... So why should they be in charge of giving us financial redress?" Jo and others are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chairman of the public statutory inquiry, will make recommendations for an independent body to take control of redress schemes. The inquiry has been examining the Post Office scandal which saw more than 700 people wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015. Sub-postmasters were forced to pay back false accounting shortfalls because of the faulty IT system, Horizon. At the moment, the Department for Business and Trade administers most of the redress schemes including the Horizon Conviction Redress Scheme and the Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme. The Post Office is still responsible for the Horizon Shortfall scheme. Lee Castleton OBE, another victim of the scandal, was bankrupted in 2007 when he lost his case in the civil courts representing himself against the Post Office. The civil judgment against him, however, still stands. "It's the oddest thing in the world to be an OBE, fighting for justice, while still having the original case standing against me," he tells Sky News. While he has received an interim payment he has not applied to a redress scheme. "The GLO scheme - that's there on the table for me to do," he says, "but I know that they would use my original case, still standing against me, in any form of redress. "So they would still tell me repeatedly that the court found me to be liable and therefore they only acted on the court's outcome." He agrees with other victims who want the inquiry this week to recommend "taking the bad piece out" of redress schemes. "The bad piece is the company - Post Office Limited," he continues, "and the government - they need to be outside. "When somebody goes to court, even if it's a case against the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), when they go to court DBT do not decide what the outcome is. "A judge decides, a third party decides, a right-minded individual a fair individual, that's what needs to happen." Mr Castleton is also taking legal action against the Post Office and Fujitsu - the first individual victim to sue the organisations for compensation and "vindication" in court. "I want to hear why it happened, to hear what I believe to be the truth, to hear what they believe to be the truth and let the judge decide." Neil Hudgell, a lawyer for victims, said he expects the first inquiry report this week may be "really rather damning" of the redress claim process describing "inconsistencies", "bureaucracy" and "delays". "The over-lawyeringness of it," he adds, "the minute analysis, micro-analysis of detail, the inability to give people fully the benefit of doubt. "All those things I think are going to be part and parcel of what Sir Wynn says about compensation. "And we would hope, not going to say expect because history's not great, we would hope it's a springboard to an acceleration, a meaningful acceleration of that process." 11:28 A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were "grateful" for the inquiry's work describing "the immeasurable suffering" victims endured. Their statement continued: "This government has quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters to provide them with full and fair redress, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants. "We will also continue to work with the Post Office, who have already written to over 24,000 postmasters, to ensure that everyone who may be eligible for redress is given the opportunity to apply for it."
