Kate Middleton's ex postmaster makes one more plea for justice after new deal
Kate Middleton's former postmaster has made one more demand for justice after the landmark announcement to exonerate those wrongly convicted.
Hundreds of Post Office branch managers caught up in the Horizon IT scandal could see their names cleared by the end of the year. Blanket legislation to exonerate subpostmasters convicted in England and Wales will be introduced within weeks. It opens the door to six-figure compensation for those wronged.
Hasmukh Shingadia, 63, demanded "every conviction is overturned" as a campaign grows for justice for the approximate 700 sub postmasters. A dispute around alleged problems with a faulty accounting system led to these between 1999 and 2015, an issue raised in last week's docudrama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office on ITV.
Since 1998, Hasmukh has run the Post Office and Spar in Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire, where Kate Middleton grew up with her family. He got a suspended sentence for false accounting overturned and, during his 10-year battle for justice, he said the Middletons supported him significantly.
Kate Middleton grew up in Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire (PA)Speaking of the Middletons, Hasmukh went on to say: "They continued to come into my shop and spend money here. Even after Kate got engaged she'd still pop in. Not everybody did that and some locals shunned me." Grandfather Hasmukh was given a suspended jail term after his dodgy Horizon computer system showed £16,000 of discrepancies in 2011, a conviction only quashed in 2021. When it was overturned, the Middletons attended a celebratory tea party at Bucklebury memorial hall in the rural village.
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He told The Sun today: “Now it’s about waiting for the compensation deals to come through. Hopefully this decision will hurry things along as the Post Office has been dragging their feet.” Yesterday he said ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells and then-postal affairs minister Mr Davey should face further questioning under oath from the Horizon public inquiry. Davey has insisted he was misled by the Post Office in a “conspiracy of lies”.
But Hasmukn insisted: “There needs to be serious questions asked of everyone who was involved – including Ed Davey. We need to know what things were hidden from us and the public, and why."
Hasmukh fought for 10 years to clear his name (PA)Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said those wrongly convicted were victims of "one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history". Hundreds of subpostmasters were convicted of swindling money on the basis of evidence from the flawed Horizon accounting system, with MPs told the Post Office showed "not only incompetence but malevolence" in the way it acted against them.
The scale of the scandal has prompted the Government to adopt the unconventional approach of new legislation, rather than requiring individuals to challenge their convictions. Ministers acknowledged the plan could result in some subpostmasters who did commit crimes being wrongly cleared, but insisted the process was the most effective way of dealing with the vast majority who were victims of a miscarriage of justice.
Downing Street said the "ambition" was for the plan to be implemented by the end of the year. Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more if they go through a process of having their claim individually assessed.
Mr Sunak also announced a £75,000 offer for subpostmasters involved in a group legal action against the Post Office - with ministers setting aside up to £1 billion for compensation. Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake told MPs that just 95 out of more than 900 convictions have been overturned. Asked why it took a TV drama for ministers to act, Mr Hollinrake told the BBC's PM programme: "This is Government. Things go on the 'too difficult' pile."
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