'It made our lives hell': Children of Post Office scandal victims seek compensation

Words by ITV News Producer Will Tullis

Hundreds of families across the UK had their lives upturned by the Post Office scandal, where more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted due to faulty accounting software.

At the heart of many of the stories of forced bankruptcies and businesses lost, are children whose lives were changed forever by the false charges their parents faced, and the strain that brought.

Now, as part of a new campaign, the children of some former sub-postmasters are seeking compensation - and an apology - for the impact the Post Office had on their lives.

Katie Downey had - for a time - an idyllic childhood. Her family ran the local shop and Post Office in the picturesque Lake District village of Hawkshead, where Katie would ride her horse.

But her life was turned upside down when her father Tony was falsely accused by the Post Office of stealing £35,000.

Forced into bankruptcy by the false debts, the Downey family lost not only their house, business and livelihood, but their reputation too, shunned by some of their neighbours and customers.

"The upsetting part is I've blamed my parents for 15 years for what they did to me", Katie told ITV News.

"But now I've found out it's not them it's the Post Office that's ruined our lives."

The family moved to France to start a new life. Katie was bullied at school there, and struggled with the language. She said she withdrew into herself and stopped speaking for two years.

"I was basically mute", she said.

"It's torn my life apart, the opportunities that I've missed", Katie added.

Katie has set up the group, Lost Chances for the Children of Sub-postmasters, to seek justice and compensation for the hundreds of chances, opportunities and childhoods lost due to the scandal.

"We've been just as affected as the sub-postmasters we've had to sell things, we've had to help our parents financially.

"Most of us have lost with families friends village they've taken away all of our childhood and all of the happy times that we could have" .

For Sophia Harris' subpostmistress mother Janine, it wasn't just money lost - but her freedom.

Janine was jailed for 18 months after being falsely accused of stealing £74,000 from her Post Office branch in Tiverton, Devon.

"I remember it like it was yesterday.

"I was at school, the bell rang, I looked out the window and I saw my brother stood there and I just instantly knew my mum's not going to be home and I just dropped to the floor and cried", Sophia told ITV News.

Sophia's mother was sent to prison two days after her tenth birthday. The toll it took on Sophia and her family was immense.

"I've struggled quite severely with mental health because I wasn't the one sent to prison, people tend to think that you're not the one accused, you're fine, but at the age of ten seeing your mum taken away from you, it has got a lasting effect", Sophia said.

The launch of the Lost Chances for the Children of Sub-postmasters' campaign follows the introduction on Wednesday, 13 March, of a law was introduced by government, aimed at quashing the wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters caught up in the Post Office scandal.

The proposed Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill will exonerate those convicted in England and Wales on the basis of the faulty Horizon software.

Meanwhile, Katie Downey's group has requested a meeting with software company Fujitsu, whose faulty Horizon software led to the hundreds of false accusations. Fujitsu's UK head - Paul Patterson has said he is open to meeting them.

For the children of this scandal, nothing can replace the years lost. But compensation and an apology from the Post Office would be recognition that they too suffered, alongside their parents.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…