Essex postmaster in Post Office scandal had '10 minutes' to decide guilty plea to avoid jail

A former postmaster said he was given 10 minutes to decide whether he would plead guilty to avoid jail.

Ian Warren - who was a postmaster in Castle Hedingham in Essex from 2004 to 2008 - was convicted after being wrongly accused of stealing £18,000 from the Post Office.

He now lives in Billingford, Norfolk, saying he had to move because he couldn't find work in Essex, where he was "known notoriously as a thief".

He is one of more than 700 postmasters who were wrongly convicted - after Fujitsu's faulty accounting software, called Horizon, was introduced to Post Office branches in 1999.

Mr Warren told ITV Anglia he had intended to plead not guilty, but was forced to change his mind when his original barrister did not turn up.

He said: "They sent a substitute barrister and he said, 'I don't think you're going to win this. But don't worry, I think I can do a deal with the Post Office if you change your plea to guilty and I don't think you'll get a custodial sentence.'"

"And I said, 'How long have I got to make a decision on that?'

"And he looked at his watch and he said, '10 minutes.'"

Mr Warren pleaded guilty to theft and was given a nine-month jail sentence, which would be suspended for two years.

Footfall in his shop suffered as a result, and he had sell off his business, which was also his home.

He moved to Norfolk in 2011 as his reputation had been so damaged, he could not find a job in Essex.

To add to it all, the 75-year-old was later diagnosed with cancer and his partner of 30 years, Valerie Wilson, was moved to a care home with dementia.

After more than a decade, Mr Warren's conviction was overturned in April 2021, along with 38 other postmasters.

However, he says he has only received a small sum and is still waiting for full compensation.

"I've had a long journey to cope with stress-related events," said Mr Warren.

He described the £600,000 compensation offered by the government as "derisory".

Former Post Office boss Paul Vennells announced on Tuesday she would give up her CBE.

Mr Warren said the decision was "wise" but added: "She should be made to suffer what we did, be prosecuted and let the law take its course."

He said: "It has been quite incredible, the effect of this drama and it’s been a monumental few days for us all of us.

"And we need to really see an end now. We want to go to bed at night not thinking about the Post Office, wake up in the morning not thinking about the Post office, and having had a decent night's sleep."

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