Group Actions
Public Inquiry Representation
Inquests & Public Inquiries

Neil Hudgell : Many subpostmasters can’t mentally endure this ongoing political blame game, nor the tortuously slow compensation process

Post Office Horizon IT Scandal group action public inquiry client representation
4 min read time

Neil Hudgell was asked by the i newspaper this week to comment on why victims’ stories must not be lost in the fray of political fighting around the Post Office Horizon scandal. Below is his article in full.

As we continue to seek full and fair compensation for all who have suffered at the hands of the Post Office, I worry about my clients becoming caught in the crossfire as a political blame game plays out.

The ITV drama Mr Bates v the Post Office brought with it a huge groundswell of support that enabled hundreds of people who have suffered for so long to finally feel vindicated.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted after faulty computer software calculated that money was missing from post office branches. Some were forced to pay thousands of pounds, lost their businesses, and reputations and even jailed. They have now finally been vindicated and the Government has promised to pay them compensation – but they have yet to receive it.

Arrange a call back

Your contact details +

 

Mr Bates vs the Post Office

Until Mr Bates v the Post Office, many of the affected subpostmasters still felt the need to continue explaining themselves to others, to people in their communities, and in their everyday lives. They felt they were still perceived as being culpable of something, due to many people viewing things in a “no smoke without fire” frame of mind.

Prior to the TV series I had heard stories of people saying to subpostmasters “You got away with it then?” when they were acquitted in the courts. There was still a lack of understanding.

Now, in the midst of all this public support following the drama, it also needs to be remembered that we have here a seriously damaged group of people who have lived with the consequences of poor mental health for over two decades and more.

This has been made clear in psychiatric reports which spell out just how badly people have been affected.

I have come to understand, from dealing over the last five years with upwards of 500 heavily traumatised people, that no one-size solution fits all. Each case is unique and tragic in its circumstances regarding this group action.

Even now, I speak with clients who I think I know very well who in each conversation drop in some added revelation about the impact this has had on their lives, such as telling me that they have kept what happened from their own families, and have only now felt able to tell their children, saying it has been their “dirty secret”.

Consequently, we need to remember the potential negative impact on these people from reading about each new revelation as it is uncovered.

Some clients simply cannot cope with hearing the details of any revelation. Some clients find it too hard to watch the Public Inquiry as it unfolds. Others need to take a rain check from time to time.

I know of people that I can only approach for instructions on particular days at particular times. They simply do not have the mental strength to play out the drama all over again, as the blame game now continues to unfold on a daily basis in the media spotlight, and in government.

For others, the tortuously slow process of pursuing compensation adds further agonies. They feel that they are being reclassified as criminals again when they have to justify every penny that they have spent over the last 20 years making ends meet to make their own claims for damages.

I am immensely privileged to represent this group of people, who were so badly wronged. We just have to be careful that in carrying a torch for them, we do not innocently re-injure them or open scars that are so far from healing.

At the heart of each and every story relating to this case is an individual or family who have been badly harmed, and who desperately need to be able to put this behind them and lead the rest of their lives without their past with the Post Office being their immediate waking thought.

The focus now needs to be on creative solutions, like the £600,000 package offered to those who have convictions overturned. Take the focus away from a micro analysis of fine detail, and take the subpostmasters at face value. Pay them what it is readily apparent they have lost, and pay it quickly.

 

Download guide

Life Changing Injury Handbook

Hudgell’s approach to serious injury. More than just legal support.

hudgell-solicitors-serious-injury-pdf-brochure-image

Related Advice

Related Advice

Expertise. Trust. Authority

View All
dr neil hudgell hudgell solicitors

Q&A with Neil Hudgell on the Post Office Horizon Scandal

Following the broadcast of the TV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’, the case has become a high priority for Government and been the focus of news bulletins across the world. Here, solicitor Neil Hudgell reflects on the impact and answers some of the key questions. Hudgell Solicitors is currently representing and advising more than 500 […]

Related News

Related News
View All
mark ellis serious injury feature image two

Hudgells’ reputation for doing the best by both clients and employees helps attract another experienced lawyer to firm

Hudgell Solicitors’ growing reputation as a firm committed to doing the best by both clients and employees was the reason behind another highly experienced serious injury lawyer making the decision to join. Mark Ellis, who qualified as a solicitor in 2002, has joined having worked as an associate in the serious injury department at Minster […]

4 min read time
neil hudgell of hudgell solicitors represents post office victims in compensation claims

Northern Ireland Court of Appeal quashes former sub-postmasters’ forgery conviction not covered by legislation which cleared hundreds of others

A former sub-postmaster from Northern Ireland who was prosecuted as part of the Horizon scandal is to have his convictions quashed after appearing at the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland. Lee Williamson was represented in the Court of Appeal by Michael Madden, of Belfast-based Madden & Finucane Solicitors, and Tim Moloney KC, of Doughty […]

2 min read time
neil hudgell of hudgell solicitors represents post office victims in compensation claims

Around 900 Post Office victim eligible for payments of at least £600,000 under new scheme

Lawyers specialising in representing people wrongfully convicted as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal have welcomed the launch of a new scheme today under which hundreds of newly exonerated people will be able to claim compensation. Hudgell Solicitors have been central to the fight for justice for former Post Office workers for the past five years, […]

1 min read time
Start my claim