A former postmaster wrongly imprisoned during the Horizon IT scandal has turned down £600,000 in compensation- saying it is not a "fair amount".
Sunil Patel, 62, ran a Post Office in St Mary’s Bay, Kent, alongside the neighbouring Beachside Stores with his wife Stella.
But in 2010, the father-of-three from Littlestone was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being wrongly accused of stealing £48,000 from the company between 2008 and 2009.
Mr Patel was one of more than 900 sub-postmasters prosecuted for stealing due to incorrect information provided by the faulty Horizon computer system.
After being convicted on three counts of falsifying accounts, he served nine months at HMP Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey before being let out early for good behaviour.
Last week, Mr Patel finally received a letter from the Ministry of Justice saying his conviction had been overturned, something he describes as a “weight being lifted”.
But he says the government’s offer of £600,000 compensation - which includes the £48,000 he was ordered to pay back - does not go far enough.
The conviction meant Mr Patel, who now works for HM Revenue and Customs, had to sell off two of his properties to pay off the debt and pay back a business loan of £180,000.
He said: “They are offering one-off compensation for £600,000 which includes your shortfall.
“I was told I could take that if I wanted, but if I think it's not fair I can fight them for a fairer amount.
“I had to go through so much suffering to pay off that £48,000.
“After the 15 years I have suffered and the really heavy losses, it [the £600,000] doesn't compare to what would have happened if I hadn't gone through that.
“People who didn't go to prison were offered that, and I had to go for nine months.”
The Department of Business and Trade (DBT) has set up the redress scheme for postmasters who had their convictions overturned so they can access compensation.
Victims have the choice of taking a fixed settlement of £600,000 or they can opt to have a fully detailed assessment if they feel the sum is unfair, something Mr Patel has chosen to do.
Sunil Patel, 62, ran a Post Office in St Mary’s Bay, Kent, alongside the neighbouring Beachside Stores with his wife Stella.
But in 2010, the father-of-three from Littlestone was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being wrongly accused of stealing £48,000 from the company between 2008 and 2009.
Mr Patel was one of more than 900 sub-postmasters prosecuted for stealing due to incorrect information provided by the faulty Horizon computer system.
After being convicted on three counts of falsifying accounts, he served nine months at HMP Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey before being let out early for good behaviour.
Last week, Mr Patel finally received a letter from the Ministry of Justice saying his conviction had been overturned, something he describes as a “weight being lifted”.
But he says the government’s offer of £600,000 compensation - which includes the £48,000 he was ordered to pay back - does not go far enough.
The conviction meant Mr Patel, who now works for HM Revenue and Customs, had to sell off two of his properties to pay off the debt and pay back a business loan of £180,000.
He said: “They are offering one-off compensation for £600,000 which includes your shortfall.
“I was told I could take that if I wanted, but if I think it's not fair I can fight them for a fairer amount.
“I had to go through so much suffering to pay off that £48,000.
“After the 15 years I have suffered and the really heavy losses, it [the £600,000] doesn't compare to what would have happened if I hadn't gone through that.
“People who didn't go to prison were offered that, and I had to go for nine months.”
The Department of Business and Trade (DBT) has set up the redress scheme for postmasters who had their convictions overturned so they can access compensation.
Victims have the choice of taking a fixed settlement of £600,000 or they can opt to have a fully detailed assessment if they feel the sum is unfair, something Mr Patel has chosen to do.
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FunTranscript
00:00I had to do seven and a half month sentence and then the rest of it I was allowed out
00:07on a tag.
00:08It was still on a curfew so I couldn't, it was like between seven to seven, so I couldn't
00:14go out.
00:15But all this affected us badly, it's the stigma of being a criminal now.
00:21They'll always be saying, oh, that's the postmaster who stole the money.
00:26And what was your reaction when the letters came through and it told you that the conviction
00:31had been overturned?
00:32That was the best moment of my life.
00:35You just felt like you just won the lottery.
00:38It's like the emotions, I thought all the weight's gone off your shoulder.
00:44You said like, you could go out and face everybody and without worrying them talking behind your
00:49back.
00:50So that was one of our best moments.
00:55And the impact on your family, you said you had a six-year-old at the time.
00:58Yeah, so three daughters.
01:00The oldest was just finishing first year uni and she was going to sit back a year so she
01:06could help in the shop.
01:08My middle daughter was in her second year A-levels, so that impacted her a bit.
01:13And my youngest was just six.
01:15My mum moved down from London to take her to school and bring her home and do the things
01:22that I would have done if I was at home.
01:24Yeah, the impact was, it was that, it was the day-to-day that was hard.