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Former Studham shopkeeper 'overwhelmed' by support after Post Office scandal

Nicola Haseler/BBC John HannaNicola Haseler/BBC
Former postmaster John Hanna says support over the Horizon IT scandal gave him "confidence to start to be a villager again"

A former sub-postmaster said he has been inundated with local support after revealing how the Horizon IT scandal was the "final straw" which closed his shop.

John Hanna shut the family-run business in Bedfordshire in 2001.

The 68-year-old said he paid "hundreds of pounds" out of his own pocket to cover apparent accounting deficits.

He says he has received dozens of supportive messages including people knocking on his door.

Last week, Mr Hanna told the BBC how his shop windows in Studham were smashed, that he received hate mail and how "villagers generally shunned me" when he decided to close.

He still lives in the same former Post Office shop that has been in his family since the early 1800s.

"I've had people knocking on my door saying they never realised. I've had messages from people I've not seen in years, because we lived like hermits after we closed the shop and Post Office," said Mr Hanna.

Mr Hanna described the messages he had received - including comments posted on the village Facebook page - as "overwhelming".

His wife Vanessa had a nervous breakdown after the closure - which was the last time the village had a shop - and he spent many years caring for her until her death from cancer last year.

John Hanna John and VanessaJohn Hanna
John wishes his wife Vanessa, who died last year, could have seen the support he has received

"The start of her ill-health was in 2000 with all the problems we had. She never really recovered from that," he recalled.

"It's a great regret that my wife is no longer here to see this."

Courtesy of John Hanna Black and white photo of elderly woman with glasses standing behind the counter of a shop with jars of sweets behind herCourtesy of John Hanna
The Post Office in Studham was run by Mr Hanna's family since 1837, including by his mother Maisie Hanna

More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted based on data from the software between 1999 and 2015, and some went to prison for false accounting and theft charges.

The ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which aired last week, has inflamed the scandal.

Former Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier said he was "deeply sorry for those whose lives were ruined".

Asked whether he would claim compensation from the Post Office, Mr Hanna said: "I'm still in two minds about it, I don't want to erode the pot.

"These lovely comments are the compensation I've received, I don't really need anything else.

"It's given me the confidence to start to be a villager again."

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