Unveiling the Faces Behind the ITV Drama: The Post Office Battle with Mr. Bates - OK! Magazine

In the first week of January, ITV's new drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, had viewers glued to their screens. This compelling series followed the true stories of several sub-postmasters who were unjustly accused, and in some cases charged, of stealing from the Post Office due to a Horizon computer error.

Spanning across four nights in total, the show came to life through the performances of a star-studded cast including Toby Jones, Will Mellor, and Julie Hesmondhalgh. They portrayed the relentless pursuit of justice and compensation for hundreds still affected by this mistake.

Through emotional scenes, fans witnessed the devastating impact of the scandal, with many of the falsely accused losing their jobs, homes, and some even taking their lives after struggling to deal with the emotional burden.

Let’s examine the real people behind these stories...

Mr Bates vs The Post Office is a four-part mini-series capturing the quest for justice among several post office employees embroiled in a scandal that spanned the late 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

This miscarriage of justice, regarded as one of the worst in British history, commenced with the Post Office's decision to integrate a new computer system, Horizon, across their branches. This software triggered accounting errors and wrongly reported shortages in many sub-postmasters' accounts, implying missing money.

In response, the Post Office demanded that the sub-postmasters compensate for these fictional losses and accused them of theft, false accounting, and fraud. Consequently, between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 people were falsely prosecuted because of the error, with many jailed, their reputations tarnished, and at least one person taking their own life.

Several Post Office employees are still awaiting compensation following the revelation that Horizon was at fault. All payments are expected to be made by August 2024.

Like his dramatised counterpart, former sub-postmaster Alan Bates played a crucial part in mobilising affected postmasters to fight for justice in court, having been forced himself to resign from his Post Office job due to Horizon-induced financial inconsistencies.

Alan, a Wales native portrayed by Toby Jones on the show, became a vocal critic of the Post Office following his job loss in 2003. He established the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance and tirelessly campaigned for justice, organising regular meetings and reaching out to those initially afraid to come forward.

Poignantly, Alan declined an OBE in the 2024 New Year's Honours list, once the government attempted to acknowledge his relentless pursuit of justice. When questioned about his refusal, the former postmaster simply stated that his "job isn't done yet".

A significant figure in both the case and drama is Alan Bates’ wife, Suzanne Sercombe, played on screen by Julie Hesmondhalgh. Suzanne, who co-owned their Llandudno post office, invested a substantial £65,000 in the business prior to the Horizon scandal, only to lose it all.

Refusing to be beaten by this miscarriage of justice, the couple took the Post Office to the High Court in 2019 and won, culminating in a £58million compensation payout for 555 claimants.

An additional real-life story brought to screen was that of Hampshire sub-postmistress Jo Hamilton, portrayed on screen by Monica Dolan. Jo was wrongfully accused of stealing £36,000 and initially repaid the money, believing the accounting error was her fault. Although over 70 villagers, including a local vicar, rallied to support her in court, Jo was placed on probation for a year, attending rehabilitation meetings alongside hardened criminals.

Following the successful legal action against the Post Office, Jo’s conviction was overturned, but she declined a 2022 compensation offer for the £36,000 she had originally paid out, as it did not account for the emotional turmoil she had endured.

Coronation Street star Will Mellor portrayed Yorkshire subpostmaster Lee Castleton’s struggle for justice in the series.

Accused of theft due to a Horizon software error while running a Post Office in Bridlington, Yorkshire, Lee initially attempted to contest the accusation in court. Regrettably, he lost the case and was subsequently obliged to refund roughly £25,000, as well as to cover approximately £321,000 in associated legal fees, as per the court's judgement in favor of the Post Office.

This judgement eventually drove Lee to bankruptcy as he was unable to procure such a large sum to settle the debt. The Castlestons later joined in on the related legal action against the Post Office and were awarded compensation. However, after considering their bankruptcy and other debts, they only received £30,000.

Noel Thomas, currently 76, is another individual deeply affected by the Post Office scandal. He is played in the TV show by the Welsh actor Ifan Huw Dafydd. Noel was accused of embezzling £48,000 from the post office he managed in Gaerwen, Anglesey in 2006. To avoid jail time, he pleaded guilty to false accounting over the money alleged to have been “lost” from his small post office.

Despite Noel’s plea, the judge condemned him to a nine-month prison sentence. Consequently, Noel was forced to spend his 60th birthday behind bars. After his conviction was overturned in 2021, he expressed relief to the BBC and hoped for justice for all those wrongly accused in the Post Office saga.

Another victim of the scandal, Michael Rudkin, is depicted on screen by actor Shaun Dooley. The Post Office nearly ruined Michael's life after £44,000 was supposedly unaccounted for in his shop in Ibstock, Leicestershire. He believes this action was taken a day after he reported that the Horizon system could be remote-controlled.

Downtown Abbey's Lesley Nicol, plays Pamela Stubbs, who was divested of her post office in Barkham, Berkshire following Horizon software discrepancies suggesting that she was short of £27,000. Even after vigorous contestation, Pamela was expelled from the business she had operated for 23 years.

The Post Office, insistent on repayment of the alleged debt, threatened to obtain the funds from any of Pamela's potential earnings elsewhere. Despite this, the Post Office didn't inform Pamela of their private suspicion that the Horizon software issues could have potentially contributed to the alleged losses.

Lia Williams portrays Paula Vennells in the series, the controversial Post Office chief responsible for prosecuting over 700 sub-postmasters during her tenure from 2012 to 2019. The former CEO, now an ordained priest, received a CBE for her service to the Post Office, a decision still deemed contentious to many. Paula has repeatedly apologized for the turmoil caused by wrongful prosecutions during her leadership period.

As the series became popular, the Postal Services Minister Kevin Hollinrake suggested that Paula should return her CBE, adding that she was “responsible for what happened.” He stated on Good Morning Britain; “If I was Paula Vennells, I would seriously consider giving that CBE back willingly.”

Another victim of the Horizon scandal was Saman Kaur, who was brought to life on screen by Krupa Pattani.

Saman was another sub postmistress that was wrongfully accused of stealing and as a result of the allegations suffered great mental anguish, leading her to become clinically depressed and suffer from thoughts of self harm.

The Midlands based postmistress was supported by her husband Jasgun Singh throughout her quest for justice and after a lengthy and gruelling battle, was finally able to clear her name in court.

Angela Van den Bogerd is another key player in the Post Office scandal having worked closely with Paula until she stepped down from the role in 2020.

Played on screen by Katherine Kelly, Angela defended the Post Office when the accuracy of Horizon came into question and refused to apologise to a wrongly convicted post-master when confronted by the claims.

“Horizon does not have functionality that allows the Post Office or Fujitsu [the manufacturer of the system] to edit or delete the transactions recorded by branches.,” she explained at the time, as she refuted claims that Horizon was to blame.

However, just one year later the Post Office was forced to admit that remote access was indeed possible.

In a further damning blow, according to the BBC, it was claimed during her time at the Post Office that she “bullied” staff into signing confessions that they had committed fraud.

Additionally, as a result of her inconsistent testimony, in December 2020 it was ruled that she had “misled” the court during the investigation.

Independent financial investigator Bob Rutherford helped to spearhead Alan’s campaign against the Post Office by analysing records and data in the hopes of getting to the truth.

He is portrayed on screen by Harry Potter actor Ian Hart.