A former sub-postmaster is hopeful he will be among those to receive further compensation after the Treasury agreed payouts to employees caught up in the Horizon IT scandal.
Ian Warren, who ran the Post Office at Castle Hedingham, said it was "good news" that full compensation had been announced yesterday (Tuesday) for 555 victims who found their legal fees outweighed the original damages they had been awarded.
The wrongful convictions arose because the Fujitsu computer programme Horizon used by the Post Office contained "bugs, errors and defects".
However, the former financial director was unsure whether he would be included in the settlement due to the individual circumstances of his case, in which his conviction for theft was overturned by the High Court in early 2021.
Mr Warren, who now lives near Dereham in Norfolk, was among the 555 and had received £100,000 when the original damages were awarded, although he said this figure did not make up for the losses he had suffered through being unable to find work following his wrongful conviction.
The circumstances of the group pursuing the litigation vary and include not just the wrongfully convicted, but also staff who were sacked or made to pay back money, as well as people who were affected, but not prosecuted.
“It appears to be good news that a hell of a lot more people are going to be included in compensation that had hitherto not been included,” he said.
However, he was still "foggy" about whether he would be receiving full compensation and said he needed to discuss the situation with his lawyers.
Last week, the EADT reported a witness statement Mr Warren provided to the enquiry into the Horizon IT scandal, in which he described how he turned to alcohol and anti-depressants to cope following his wrongful conviction for stealing approximately £18,000.
In 2009, he was given a six-month suspended sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court and ordered to repay the money after being forced to plead guilty to theft to avoid being sent to prison.
The stigma of the sentence resulted in him having to leave the Essex village where he had worked and move to Norfolk, while he believed the stress of the legal action had affected the health of both himself and his partner Valerie Wilson, who now lives in a care home.
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