2 days ago
Horizon victim becomes first to return to work at Post Office
A sub-postmaster dismissed 15 years ago over false theft allegations has become the first Horizon scandal victim to return to run their old Post Office branch.
Rooprit Gill, 56, took up her role again on Monday at Wattville Road Post Office in Handsworth, Birmingham, saying she was doing it honour of her late father, Nirmal Singh Kailey, who bought the business in 1976.
In 2010, five years after she took over running the branch, Ms Gill was dismissed after the faulty Post Office Horizon computer system suggested she had stolen £46,000. Her father died before her exoneration.
She said the scandal, which led to hundreds of sub-postmasters being falsely accused of theft and fraud, left her feeling suicidal. In the wake of the false allegations, she lost her home and her car and her marriage collapsed.
On Monday, Ms Gill officially returned to her branch, which is located in a shop owned by her family, and said: 'My dad was one of the first Asian postmasters outside of London. He ran it with pride, and he was gutted when I was dismissed.
'My dad's wish before he passed away was wanting it to be ours again, that's all he kept saying because he knew I hadn't taken the money. It's for him really, I'm going back to honour him. I was adamant I wanted to do it and I'm going to stand there with my head held high.
'I'm the only one who has come back out of all of them, so far. The chairman told me this morning. It doesn't surprise me. I was able to thanks to my circumstances of my dad owning the place.
'A few things have changed since. I had to do a bit of online training, quite a fair bit, then office-based training for a week. It's exciting and quite emotional, and I'm looking forward to running the place again.
'There have been cheers of delight from customers when they found out that I would be the postmistress again – they are over the moon, and so am I. It's great to be back serving my Post Office customers again.'
'I lost my reputation and nearly my life'
She added: 'I lost my reputation. The husband and me were arguing constantly. I didn't want to face anyone, so I tried to take my life.
'Luckily, I was found and brought back. It was a difficult time, and my husband also passed away. I couldn't pay my mortgage and lost my car, it was a horrible time.
'I think somebody needs to pay for it, one way or another, whether it be Fujitsu [the company behind the Horizon system], somebody at the Post Office – somebody does need to pay for it, because people knew what was going on and they let it carry on for a while. That ruined a lot of lives, so somebody needs to pay for some things somewhere.
'They've done an interim payment to start with, so there is money that has come in, but the full claim hasn't finished yet.'
Nigel Railton, the Post Office chairman, who was present for Ms Gill's return, said: 'I wanted to attend this event to warmly welcome Roopie Gill back as the postmistress for Wattville Road Post Office.
'Her experiences were part of a shameful time in Post Office history and I sincerely apologise to her and everyone affected by this scandal. I know Roopie is now focused on the future, serving her customers and running a successful branch.
'It's my job to make sure she has the tools in place to do so and we are looking forward to working in partnership with her.'
