'A very proud and honest woman' - Fife daughter calls out Post Office scandal which left her mother jobless

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https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fi ... e-scandal/

A Fife woman has spoken out on the Post Office scandal which ruined hundreds of lives and left her mother jobless.

Myra Philp, who worked alongside her mother Mary at Auchtermuchty Post Office, says the woman was left distraught after she was falsely accused of stealing money from her employers.

Mary was just one of more than 700 postal workers who were dismissed over false allegations of fraud, theft and embezzlement between 2000 and 2014.

The allegations were caused by a flaw in the Post Office’s Horizon accountancy software which falsely reported large sums of money missing.

In Scotland alone, 73 workers were dismissed due to false claims of theft.

‘A very proud and honest woman’

Mary was dismissed in 2007 after the glitch made it seem as though she had been embezzling money from her work.

The postal scandal led to more than 700 sackings.

Speaking to the BBC, Myra said: “My mother and I formed a partnership at the Post Office in Auchtermuchty. Within two months, the Horizon system was recording deficit.

“We strongly believed there was a fault in the system.

“My mother was a former policewoman, she was a very proud and honest woman.

“Being wrongly accused and the shame that came from rumours and innuendos in a small village in Scotland didn’t quite destroy her.
“But if we mentioned it in the subsequent years, she would well up and cry.

“She didn’t work another day in her life.”

Mary, who died in 2018 without clearing her name, never worked another day after being dismissed.

Public inquiry

A public inquiry has now been launched into the scandal – which some have labelled “the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.”

Since the scandal’s discovery, 72 postal workers have successfully cleared their names.

A compensation fund was also set up by those who were dismissed in the blunder, however many – such as Myra – have yet to receive any payments.

The Fifer attempted to file a claim for £450,000 of damages, however was told that her application had been submitted too late.

She said: “They failed to contact me. They sent a letter to the house my mother lived in, a few years after her death.

“When I found out about the scheme, the three-month window to apply had closed.”