Scots postmaster tells how he ‘tried to end life' over Post Office Horizon scandal

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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/loca ... d-31626886

Clackmannanshire postmaster whose life was shattered by the Horizon scandal has spoken of his turmoil after victims were found to have suffered similar trauma to soldiers in war zones.

Robert Thomson was among those wrongly blamed for tens of thousands of pounds vanishing from their Post Office branches after faulty software sparked what is considered to be the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history. It has also been linked to several suicides.

They are among hundreds of former postmasters across the country who not only lost their ­livelihoods but were shunned by their communities and live with the emotional impact to this day.

Now – as academics warn that the majority of affected postmasters are displaying PTSD and depression in numbers far greater than even ­military personnel and frontline Covid medics – they have told of their ongoing struggles as they demand long-overdue compensation for victims.

Robert, who was convicted over Horizon faults at his Clackmannanshire post office, told our sister paper the Daily Record: “I have depression and I previously tried to commit suicide. You can’t put a price on this for people who have passed away or are going though PTSD and depression now because of it.

“The things that happened to us will never leave our minds.”

More than 700 people were prosecuted for theft and false accounting between 2000 and 2014 after the Post Office’s flawed Horizon IT system incorrectly suggested there were financial shortfalls.

Over 70 Scots workers were forced to pay out thousands to the Post Office during this time.

Many are still awaiting justice and several Scots, including Robert, are currently fighting to have their convictions overturned.

Last week the Government introduced a Bill to ensure a payout is given to all those exposed to the scandal, and lifted the deadline of the compensation following criticism heard during the long-running public inquiry.

The Bill follows shocking evidence from academics at Exeter University that of more than 100 postmasters wrongly accused, 67 per cent reported clinically significant post-traumatic stress and 60 per cent suffered depressive symptoms.

Robert was one of the ­postmasters who contributed to the study.

The grandfather-of-four, from Alva, took over Cambus post office in Clackmannanshire from his mum in the early 2000s and reported shortfalls of about £60,000 in 2004.

But the Post Office launched criminal proceedings when auditors identified an alleged shortfall of around £5700. The dad was forced to plead guilty when his lawyer warned he was facing prison and was sentenced to community service. Now 64, Robert told the Record he tried to take his own life in the wake of the scandal, suffers from depression and has undergone psychotherapy.

He said: “At the time this happened I was frightened to go out the door because it was on the front page of the local paper. I was going down the back streets so no one would see me and when I got the community service I was going about with a balaclava on so people wouldn’t recognise me.


“I tried to keep it from my mum but it got out and she became a recluse.

“I lost my mum through this and blame myself. My two boys were coming home from school being bullied.”


Robert’s case is one of several being appealed by The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

He said: “Seven years I’ve been waiting for my case to be reviewed. They don’t realise the stress and strain it’s putting on us and our families.

“Personally speaking, I want to see someone jailed for this.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We’re acutely aware of the devastating human cost of the scandal and we’re doing all we can to right the wrongs of the past as far as that is possible.

“Both Post Office and the Government are committed to providing full, fair and final compensation for victims. We fully share the aims of the public inquiry to establish what went wrong in the past and the accountability for it.”