Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Drama 'brings it all back' for accused

A woman accused of stealing thousands from her own Post Office has said a new TV drama on the Horizon IT scandal has "just brought it all back".

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

The story has been dramatised by ITV in Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

"It's been very, very hard for a lot of people," Deirdre Connolly said.

Between 2000 and 2014, a flaw in a newly-installed computer system made it look like money was missing from Post Offices.

It led to suspensions, termination of contracts, wrongful prosecutions and convictions.

A four-part mini-series, which concludes on Thursday night, is based on the real-life story of postmaster Alan Bates and the legal battle he led and won, paving the way for dozens of convictions to be overturned.

The drama hits close to home for Ms Connolly who sought assurance from Mr Bates after she was accused of fraud.

During a Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry hearing in Belfast, Ms Connolly described how she was told to plead guilty and forced to repay a discrepancy of over £15,000 which she did not owe.

She told the inquiry that Post Office officials used "bully boy tactics" to wrongly accuse her of fraud and that she was asked if she took the money for paramilitary organisations.

Her family had to re-mortgage their home and were declared bankrupt.

"I lost everything because the footfall went down because there's no smoke without fire, the stigma of it all was just awful," she told BBC News NI's Talkback programme.

She said her health has declined and she now has epilepsy, which she believes was brought on by stress.

"My life is never going to be the same," she added.

Ms Connolly was advised to contact Alan Bates by her sister-in-law after she read a newspaper article mentioning him.

Ms Connolly said Mr Bates said he would look after her, "which he did".

She flew to England several times for meetings with others involved in the scandal and remains in a WhatsApp group.

"It was great to know that there were other people and it wasn't just me," she said.

Speaking to the BBC's Evening Extra programme, Mr Bates said: "We have come along way as a group and we have achieved a great deal but it has taken many many years."

He commended TV bosses for the drama.

"They can't show 20 years of battling and campaigning but they have certainly managed to put over suffering that so many of the victims have gone through," he added.

Some 19 post office workers in Northern Ireland were convicted, but it is believed there were more victims of the scandal.

"There are definitely people out there who haven't come forward, who have had convictions and would undoubtedly have their convictions overturned if they did come forward," solicitor Michael Madden told Talkback.

"But it's just so difficult for people to do that."

Regarding compensation, the Post Office is administering two compensation routes: the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) and the Overturned Convictions Scheme.

The government is responsible for a third scheme.

The head of the inquiry into the scandal, Sir Wyn Williams, previously said he was sure that if the government and Post Office were devising a scheme to deliver compensation to all involved now, there would not be three of them.

He also warned there was a "clear and real risk" that final compensation payments under one scheme - the Group Litigation Order, set up by the government - "will not be delivered to each applicant" by the 7 August 2024 deadline.

Ms Connolly said she has applied for compensation and is hopeful for an offer.

To date, offers of compensation totalling more than £138m have been made to about 2,700 postmasters, the Post Office said.

In Northern Ireland, £3.1m has been offered to 72 claimants through the HSS scheme.

A spokesperson said the Post Office "fully shares the aims" of the current inquiry and is "doing all we can to right the wrongs of the past".

"Both Post Office and government are committed to providing full, fair and final compensation for the people affected," they added.