Anyone just watched Mr Bates v the Post Office? *GNHQ tweaked the title*

I am watching on plus one , a shocking thing to have happened. Can't begin to imagine the stress it caused , absolutely horrendous!

Just watched it and can’t believe how they got away with this huge miscarriage of justice. Peoples lives have been ruined over this so very very sad. Don’t usually watch sad real life things on the telly but I’m watching this one till the end. Such a tragedy.

Yes sazzl, almost unbearable at times knowing what we know now.

The programme was so good - looking forward to the other episodes this week 👍.
It's truly shameful & outrageous that lives were ruined and as we know compensation is still outstanding!

So awful for everyone must of seemed so very lonely to be so unjustly accused. People should be held to account for the cover up but I bet those responsible are scattered to the four winds by now. Definitely needs a public enquiry and all those fighting for compensation should be paid out straight away.
A very good program.

Yes, we did.

A most dreadful and absolutely unforgivable thing to have happened. Some people took their own lives, others have died with the shame of the false accusations hanging over them.

No-one brought to account and proper compensation has not yet been paid out.

Those responsible should be prosecuted.

That woman, Paula Vennells, who was in charge of the Post Office left with a bonus of £400,000 and a CBE. She was an ordained priest!

Lawyers representing victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal say there is “more than enough evidence” for police to investigate senior staff members accused of covering it up.

I have just watched Mr Bates at the post office. Those poor post masters accused wrongly and it has affected all their lives. A dreadful miscarriage of justice.

Absolutely dreadful what happened to those poor people!
So many lives ruined, so very sad!

We haven't yet watched the programme, but from hearing about the subject, the PO should be so very ashamed for the destruction wrought on so many families
Also will the company who provided the computer programmes be made to account for their apparent lack of testing before going live?

I was absolutely hooked and furiously angry at the same time. The woman on the help line saying she didn't know how it worked but it would come out right! And the way everything they said was ignored!

So dreadful that they were each led to believe they were the only ones experiencing problems with the system - the Post Office must have known this was untrue.

Can the title be changed to Mr Bates at the post office?

Our postmaster's name and address went in the local paper when it went to court. That was the end of their corner shop. So very sad and the Post Office knew it was Horizon and covered it up for years

By the way, some people may miss this thread as the programme title was Mr. Bates versus the Post Office (not Potts).

Sorry, crossed posts rafichagran.

Oh whoops I've put Potts and its Mr Bates Don't think I can edit it sorry

It is an absolute scandal, and very frightening that ordinary people can be bullied into pleading guilty to something they didn't do. So many people's lives ruined - their reputations besmirched, their homes, future job prospects and incomes seriously affected. So terrible.

What I hadn't realised was that the Post Office can legally carry out investigations without police involvement.

I wonder how many former sub post masters are out there who did not join in the campaign to clear their names because they just couldn't face the trauma of re-living the whole terrible experience.

It was chilling watching how this awful miscarriage of justice rolled out. Our own local postmaster was implicated, lost his job, had to sell his house to pay his £20,000 “debt”, pleaded guilty to bring an end to the nightmare, got a suspended sentence and had to leave the area because of the looks and whispers from the community. He decided just in 2021 to clear his name, and did so successfully, though I saw an interview with him a year later saying he’d still had no compensation. He was just glad to be able to visit friends in the area again with his head held high.

I hadn’t realised either that the police weren’t involved in the case. I like to think if they had been, it would have become apparent much earlier that something weird was going on.

It’s just beyond belief that people were treated so badly.

Our village Post Office closed we were told because of fraud. It wasn't it was to do with the computer errors a total disgrace.

Yes I watched it as I had followed the story as it emerged.
Compensation can never be sufficient for the poor people caught up in the scandal.
It would be good to think that it can never happen again.

That woman, Paula Vennells, who was in charge of the Post Office left with a bonus of £400,000 and a CBE. She was an ordained priest!
Absolutely disgusting.

I cried for these people when I watched.
No compensation can undo or make up for the harm caused.

Dreadful thing to have happened to Post Office staff and it has dragged on for so long now. Not sure if the awarded compensation has been paid out to them. No amount of money could make up for what they went through but having their names cleared was a big step. Shame on the Post Office managers concerned.

Our village postmistress was implicated. It was all very sad. She was a widow, bright and a pillar of the local church. One of those ladies who is always looked up to and admired. Anyway, she lost her job and her home. She refused to speak to anyone and barely ventured out of her house. I think drink become involved. She died in a house fire.