Cornish postmistress says Post Office system ‘ruined our lives’

A postmistress said her life was “ruined” after she was accused of stealing money from a Post Office branch she owns in a Cornish village.

Shann Brede, who runs the Post Office at Goldsithney, near Marazion, said over the years she encountered thousands of pounds worth of losses while using the Horizon computer system and had to use her own money to balance the books.

She said she had paid back more than £20,000 since the problems started not long after she took over the branch in 2002.

Ms Brede’s story features in a new BBC documentary which aired on Monday evening, which further highlights the scandal.

Ms Brede said she had to take a second job as the money she paid back to the Post Office meant she could not afford to help her daughter go to university.

She said: “I enjoy my customers but I don’t enjoy the job anymore.

“The customers were great [when she first took over], they took us into their hearts, and then the losses started.

“It basically just ruined our lives. This was my daughter and mine’s dream.”

She said she continues to use the Horizon system for accounting because “there is no alternative”, and still experiences shortfalls.

Penny Williams was also wrongly accused of stealing £20,000 when she operated her branch in Manaccan on the Lizard.

She went bankrupt in 2014.

She said she had been following the public inquiry into the scandal, which began in February 2021 and has heard evidence from Post Office staff and employees of Fujitsu who developed the Horizon software.

She said: “It’s with me [the inquiry] all the time.

“At the end of the day you have to remember that the Post Office is owned by the general public – it’s funded by the government which is paid for by us, the public.

“A public inquiry, although absolutely vital, is a costly exercise being paid for by us, the general public.”

She said she is still waiting for compensation, but it is a “very long process”.

“This compensation money has got to set us up to where we would’ve been had the Post Office not done what they did,” she said.

“I’ve had amazing support once I moved my business out of the village, but being in a small village that empathy, understanding and support definitely wasn’t there and still isn’t today.

“Living in a rural area can be very difficult, everyone thinks they know the ins and outs of your business.

“We can’t move on until we get our compensation and make some decisions.

“You get to a point now where you can’t keep doing it.”

Fujitsu said it “encouraged any subpostmaster experiencing issues with the Horizon system to escalate these to the Post Office”.

It added it would “work with the Post Office to ensure issues are investigated and resolved.”

A spokesperson for the Post Office said: “Discrepancies – shortfalls or surpluses – can arise in branch for a range of reasons.

“Today, we have a process for the management of bugs, errors and defects to ensure that any issues, if they do arise, are dealt with transparently to mitigate any impact on postmasters.

“As of 1 July, we have four open bugs, errors or defects with the potential for financial impact.”

They added: “We recognise that some postmasters are fearful of raising balancing issues with us, and we want them to be reassured that support is available if they are experiencing issues in their branch.”

A department for business and trade spokesperson said the new government’s “priority” is the people who were falsely accused.

They said: “This was an appalling scandal affecting the families of innocent postmasters which is why financial losses are taken into account under the various compensation schemes and they can apply for financial redress if a postmaster has sadly passed away.”

The government said it was providing the Post Office with £103m towards a replacement for Horizon.