Post Office IT scam is 'never ending', says grandfather wrongly accused of stealing money
Video report by ITV Wales' Ian Lang
A grandfather wrongly accused of stealing money in the Post Office IT scandal has said he feels like it is "never ending".
His frustrations have spiked after calls from the Business and Trade Committee for the Post Office to be completely removed from overseeing compensation schemes, in a report released on Thursday.
The report concluded the company is “not fit for purpose to administer any of the schemes of redress required to make amends for one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history”.
The committee has now demanded an independent body be established to help victims “through every stage of their compensation claims” – describing the current redress process as an “abject failure”.
Noel Thomas, 77, from Anglesey, was convicted for theft and false accounting along with one of more than 700 sub-postmasters.
He was wrongly accused of stealing £48,000 from the Post Office due to flawed information from the organisation’s Horizon computer system.
Mr Thomas was disqualified as a councillor, jailed for nine months and his daughter was forced to sell her home to pay legal costs.
"It's never ending isn't it," said Mr Thomas. "Why should the post office still hang on to be judge and jury.
"It's gone on for me for nearly 18 years. It's gone on for many of my friends in England and Scotland and Northern Ireland as well and every time you talk to the post office solicitors, they want proof, they want this, they want that - it's just stalling all the time."
Reacting to the news about an independent body taking over the proce, Mr Thomas said he feels this is "fairer".
He commented: "With the post office, you just don't seem to be getting anywhere.
"I was cleared in 2019 when about 35 others and I don't think anybody's about a total settlement.
"It's only just drips and drabs and drips and every time you apply for something, they want more information.
"It's been nearly 18 years for me. It doesn't end there, does it? You know, they've been willing to take us to court."
However, Mr Thomas said the latest report gives him "hope".
He added: "I think the best way for everybody is to have an arbitration. That's the way and a fair one, because.
"So when is going through his inquiry and as you know, the inquiry should have finished this year, but it looks like it's going to go on again.
"And that's because the post office had been keeping information. How the how they're getting away with it, I don't know."
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