18 January 2024 , 15:33
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A postmistress who was falsely accused of stealing £30,000 died penniless and alone in a homeless hostel after losing her family, home and job. Fiona McGowan, who was 47 at the time of her death, was convinced she was going to prison and carried the weight of her false accusation with her until she passed.
Her three children, who have bravely come forward to fight for justice, said the Post Office Horizon scandal is to blame for the death of their mum - and tearing all of their lives apart. Gemma McGowan and her brothers William and Daryl Wallace revealed how after being charged with false accounting, the once respected pillar of her local community in Edinburgh died with nothing.
Gemma, 37, said: “My mum lost everything - her job, her children, her health and eventually her life because of the Post Office. Me and my brothers’ lives were ruined and mum carried the weight of this with her until she died. It was a dark cloud hanging over her. She died believing she was going to end up in jail. We now want justice for her because she can’t fight for it herself.”
Daryl, who was just ten when social workers removed him and his brother from Fiona’s care after she couldn’t cope, said: “Before this, my mum was so outgoing and full of life. She always had makeup on, was really well put together. But it just changed her.”
Their brother William, a member of the Scots guards down south, is backing their efforts. The siblings are speaking out for the first time about the family’s ordeal ahead of the 15th anniversary of Fiona’s death, aged 47, on January 21. It comes amid mounting fury at the Post Office scandal which saw more than 700 sub-postmasters - including 100 in Scotland - wrongly accused of stealing money because of a faulty IT system called Horizon.
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Postmistress Fiona pictured with daughter Gemma (UGC)Fiona and ex-partner Phil Cowan ran the Jock’s Lodge Post Office on Parson’s Green in the Scottish capital from 2000 but started experiencing shortfalls with the accounts when the Horizon computer system was brought in. Gemma, now 37, helped out in the shop from the age of 15 and witnessed her mum’s struggle as auditors visited to question her over the ‘missing’ funds.
Gemma said: “Wednesday was the worst day of the week because that was balancing day and there was always an issue whether it be money missing or things not adding up between what they had and the system. Mum would go home and work on it trying to find where the money was as she knew she hadn’t taken anything.
“The Post Office auditors came about three or four times and said that if there was a problem with the computer system then she was doing something wrong because nobody else had this problem. She started to believe she had actually made a mistake and it was her fault because they said the computer was accurate.”
Their post office was closed when auditors came to visit for a final time in 2004. After multiple interviews with investigators, Fiona was arrested and charged by police with false accounting. Her partner Phil escaped arrest after the £30,000 was repaid. But the local community believed the Post Office accusations and turned on Fiona. Her children witnessed many horrific verbal attacks on their mum.
Daryl, now 27, said: “People would shout things at her - that she was a thief - and the shop was getting targeted all the time. One day she went to try and board it up after the windows got smashed and there were two or three people shouting at her and abusing her.”
Fiona’s arrest sent her mental health into a downward spiral, and she was prescribed antidepressants. The mum also began drinking heavily to the point where she wasn’t able to look after her two youngest children.
Daryl said: “My mum was amazing and we were her life but there were times when I had to carry her down the street during the day because she was so drunk. I was only 10 years old. When I was in P6 my brother and I got taken off her by social work and we had to go and live with our dad because she couldn’t look after us any more."
The local community believed the Post Office accusations and turned on Fiona (UGC)The stonemason said his mum, who attended Alcoholics Anonymous, tried to get other jobs but struggled. Daryl added: “She was a teaching assistant at one point but members of the community complained that a thief was working with their kids so after three months she lost that job.”
Gemma said: “There were periods where she was doing really well and she was going to AA meetings. I still have her coins that she got for being six months sober and nine months sober. She was trying to get back on her feet but she had lost her focus when William and Daryl got taken off her and she wasn’t able to see them.”
At the end of 2008 Fiona’s relationship broke down and she ended up in the Woodside Hotel in Musselburgh which was reserved for homeless accommodation.
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Gemma said: “Christmas came and she went downhill with the alcohol. She was put out of the house and ended up in a homeless B&B, trying to attend AA meetings while battling daily with alcohol.”
Fiona died alone in her room at the Woodside Hotel on 21 January 2009. The cause of her death was acute alcohol toxicity. She was never prosecuted by the Post Office.
Gemma, then 22, spent time in homeless accommodation and slept on friends’ couches while Daryl said he turned to drugs aged 12 to cope with what had happened.
Daryl said: “I just wanted to block it all out. Thankfully, I’m okay now and don’t do anything like that any more but I just couldn’t cope with what happened. It wasn’t until all the Horizon stuff started coming out that I realised this is what happened to mum. We never knew then that there was a problem with the computer.”
The latest developments in the Horizon scandal are very bittersweet for the siblings. They can’t escape the constant coverage on the news and it brings back memories of the worst time in their lives.
Postmistress Fiona McGowan pictured with sons Daryl and William (UGC)
The cause of Fiona's death was acute alcohol toxicityThey see other innocent people finally being exonerated and telling their stories - something their mum will never experience.
Gemma said: “I go between crying and being full of anger. I do know if my mum was here she would be so happy that it’s all coming out now and people are getting justice.”
Daryl said: “I just find it hard. I switch on the radio and it’s there, the TV is constantly showing it and it’s a lot to take in. We didn’t know this is really what happened until much later when the stories about Horizon were being publicised and we knew then that’s what happened to our mum. She died with this hanging over her.”
The siblings now want their mum’s name to be cleared and for those responsible for the Horizon scandal to appear in court to answer for what they’ve done. They have also urged both the UK and Scottish governments to remember the countless cases where people did not end up in court, like their mum, but whose families were still destroyed after they were accused of wrongdoing by the Post Office.
Gemma said: “The Post Office knew mum hadn’t done anything wrong and there is other people like us. The government aren’t saying anything about these cases and that needs to change. We don’t know where to turn to for help and we’ve lost our mum because of this.”
The Post Office has come under fire over its handling of the Horizon scandal (Getty Images)Tommy Sheppard, SNP MP for Edinburgh East, has vowed to help Fiona’s children. He said: “This is appalling and in an indirect way the Post Office are responsible for this woman’s death. They need to be held to account for it. I’m more than happy to work with her family and next of kin to make sure they get justice, even if it is from beyond the grave. These cases must not die and be forgotten just because there wasn’t a prosecution.”
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: “This case is beyond horrific and heartbreaking for the family. While all the focus has rightly been on exonerating those prosecuted and getting subpostmasters compensated, we must also ensure that those who weren’t prosecuted or the charges were dropped get justice. This story shows many died before any justice. That wrong has to be righted and will do all we can to make that happen.”
The Post Office stated it would not comment on individual cases but said: “We share fully the aims of the Public Inquiry to get to the truth of what went wrong in the past and establish accountability.”