Post Office man Harjinder Butoy was wrongly accused of stealing thousands but his name has now been cleared. Seen with his family mum Satya Devi, Dad Kesar Singh, and wife Balbinder Butoy. (Photo: Brian Eyre)
Harjinder Butoy, 46, from Chesterfield, a former subpostmaster, endured 18 months behind bars for a crime he did not commit – a victim of what has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in recent history.
Harjinder is not the only one affected as a total of 700 Post Office workers were accused of theft following serious flaws with the Horizon IT system used at branches.
The dad-of-three from Chesterfield had his conviction overturned by the court in April 2021 and was promised full compensation last year – but has only received an interim payment so far.
He said: “The conviction affected me and my family. We want to leave it all in the past but we can’t because the Post Office is dragging it out and taking way too long."
Harjinder ran Forest Side Sub Post Office in Sutton-in-Ashfield, with alongside with his wife when he was accused of theft in 2007 and convicted in 2008.
While he was declared bankrupt and given a three-year and three-month sentence after his conviction, his wife and children had to move in with his parents, as the Post Office was shut and the family lost their home.
After a traumatic year and a half behind the bars Harjinder had to live with a false conviction for 14 years and was forced claim benefits as he struggled to find an employer. Now, his fight with the Post Office continues as the company tried to negotiate previously agreed compensation.
Harjinder said: "I am frustrated. The biggest problem is that they are negotiating the compensation. Even though our solicitors have investigated how much we should get and why they are still contesting aginst it. I think that’s absolutely wrong.
"They were trying to half it. From what they wanted to give me and what I got was 65%.”
"Even the government was telling them to hurry up and do the payments but they are not listening. They took me to court they lied there, and now they are lying again about the compensation. They keep apologising but what’s the point of an apology when they need to finish everything off now. There are a lot of people who haven’t even had the interim payment yet.”
He added: "I want to see someone on the Post Office side to be jailed like I was, someone responsible for the mistake.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “The Post Office is taking extensive action to ensure that miscarriages of justice are fully addressed through the courts and that fair, full and final compensation is provided. In total, more than £20 million has so far been paid to people with Horizon-related overturned convictions. This includes interim payments of up to £163,000 and further payments as parts of claims are settled, to get money to people as quickly as possible.”
The Post Office has previously said it is "sincerely sorry for the impact of the Horizon scandal on the lives of victims and their families and we are in no doubt about the human cost".