BACKGROUND: From a previous post on this Blog: (January 13, 2024): "The scandal is frequently described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history. What harm did it cause? Hundreds of sub-post office operators ended up with criminal records and punishments ranging from having to do community service and wear electronic tags to being jailed. Many were left struggling financially or even bankrupt following convictions. Even those who did not go to court had to drum up money to cover nonexistent shortfalls. Victims and their families were severely hit by stress, and in many cases illness, with the scandal linked to at least four suicides. For years the Post Office, which has the power to investigate and prosecute without the need for police involvement, continued to defend itself against accusations and press reports highlighting problems with the IT system, developed by Japan’s Fujitsu, including through legal means. In 2019, a group of post office operators won a high court case in which their convictions were ruled wrongful and the Horizon IT system was ruled to be at fault. In 2021, the ruling was upheld on appeal, quashing the convictions of some workers who were wrongly accused of committing crimes, paving the way for compensation. However, even since the computer system was found to be defective, the Post Office has still opposed a number of appeals by operators. What kind of justice have victims got since?"
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/332097370560726195
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Sir Alan was part of the Group Litigation Order compensation scheme, under which claimants can either receive £75,000 or seek their own settlement. Former sub-postmaster Tim Brentnall from Pembrokeshire had his conviction overturned after he was prosecuted for false accounting. Brentnall told BBC Radio Wales Drive that Sir Alan's "tenacity and dogged spirit" kept him and other sub-postmasters going over the past 20 years. "We all owe him a great debt."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The Post Office/Horizon scandal reached new heights in the public consciousness last year after Sir Alan's campaign for justice was portrayed in the ITV drama series Mr Bates vs the Post Office. The government adopted all but one of the recommendations of a report published following a public inquiry into the scandal. The inquiry detailed the full human impact of the scandal for the first time: the report said that more than 13 people may have taken their own lives as a result of what happened to them."
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STORY: "Alan Bates to get multi-million-pound payout over Post Office scandal," The BBC (Business Reporter Emer Moreau) reports, on November 4, 2025.
GIST: "Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates has agreed a multi-million-pound compensation figure from the Post Office, sources close to the deal have confirmed to the BBC.
The payout for Sir Alan comes more than 20 years after he started campaigning for justice for victims of the Horizon scandal which led a group of 555 sub-postmasters launching landmark legal action against the Post Office.
The exact sum paid to Sir Alan has not been made public and he has not responded to requests for comment.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT system indicated shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts.
Hundreds more poured their own savings into their branch to make up apparent shortfalls in order to avoid prosecution.
Marriages broke down, and some families believe the stress led to serious health conditions, addiction and even premature death.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "We pay tribute to Sir Alan Bates for his long record of campaigning on behalf of victims.
"We can confirm that Sir Alan's claim has reached the end of the scheme process and been settled."
As of September 2025, a total of £1.23bn had been awarded to more than 9,100 sub-postmasters.
Sir Alan first received an offer of redress in January 2024, which he rejected, describing it as "cruel and derisory".
He was made another offer in May 2024 which he said was around a third of what he had requested. In May of this year, he said that he'd received a third offer for less than 50% of his original claim.
Sir Alan was part of the Group Litigation Order compensation scheme, under which claimants can either receive £75,000 or seek their own settlement.
Former sub-postmaster Tim Brentnall from Pembrokeshire had his conviction overturned after he was prosecuted for false accounting.
Brentnall told BBC Radio Wales Drive that Sir Alan's "tenacity and dogged spirit" kept him and other sub-postmasters going over the past 20 years.
"We all owe him a great debt."
The Post Office/Horizon scandal reached new heights in the public consciousness last year after Sir Alan's campaign for justice was portrayed in the ITV drama series Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
The government adopted all but one of the recommendations of a report published following a public inquiry into the scandal.
The inquiry detailed the full human impact of the scandal for the first time: the report said that more than 13 people may have taken their own lives as a result of what happened to them.
Earlier this year, Sir Alan accused the government of putting forward a "take it or leave it" offer of compensation amounting to less than half of his claim.
Many victims have previously complained about being forced to accept low offers of compensation, without the benefit of legal help.
Last month, the government announced that all victims who are claiming compensation will now be entitled to free legal advice to help them with their offers.
There are three different compensation schemes, which are aimed at different groups of victims.
Individual eligibility for compensation depends on the particular circumstances of each case.
However, the schemes have been criticised for being too slow and complicated, with many of the worst-affected victims receiving far less than their original claims.
Sir Alan told the inquiry that, as part of his plan to claim his own settlement, his lawyers had included compensation for his 20 years of campaigning for justice for other victims.
He said: "I'm trying to fight for everyone's financial redress in this but I've also got to fight for my own as well."
He said his lawyers added the 20 years' compensation to his claim without his knowledge.""
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5e723qv0no
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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