Former postmaster calls for Post Office reform

A woman whose family had run a Leicestershire Post Office since 1847 wants further reform of the firm.

Julie Beisner was a third-generation postmaster in Lutterworth, who came under suspicion of accounting errors.

She said inconsistencies caused by Fujitsu's faulty Horizon accounting system led her mother to suspect she was at fault.

The North Kilworth branch closed during the Covid pandemic, and Ms Beisner gave evidence to the Post Office Inquiry.

The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 people wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting in what has been described as "the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history".

Ms Beisner said ITV's drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which has put the issue back in the spotlight, had brought back bad memories.

"It was really scary," she said. "I mean, what figures were Horizon going to generate next? It was like walking a tightrope."

She was not prosecuted, but inconsistencies in the accounts put pressure on the family, with her mother wondering if she was at fault.

"It did cause friction, as it would, and I was accused of being careless, which is not the sort of relationship that you want," Ms Beisner said.

She now thinks only major reform can restore public confidence.

She said: "I think it has got too big, too powerful.

"Certainly, having studied law, I do not think it should be able to bring prosecutions against people.

"I think a lot of the ways it went about things breaches natural justice.

"So yes, I think it does need a big shake-up."

She also believes criminal charges could be brought.

She said: "If the inquiry, when it finally reaches its conclusion, decides that Fujitsu or Post Office are culpable, and the inquiry suggests they are put before a court of law and a judge decides, yes, they have committed criminal offences, then yes, the should face the full force of the criminal justice system."

She would also like to see the Post Office logo changed to more subdued colours in recognition of those affected.

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