Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Inside Episode 4
In the fourth and final episode of this remarkable true story on MASTERPIECE, Alan Bates and his colleagues finally get to battle the British Post Office in court. Learn what other evidence was presented at trial, which honor Post Office CEO Paula Vennells ironically received, and whether Alan Bates is still fighting. [Contains spoilers.]
- 1.
What Else Happened During the Group Litigation Trial?
Episode 3 sees witnesses from the Justice for Subpostmaster Alliance, the Post Office, and even a former Fujitsu employee take the stand in November 2018. Besides their testimony, what other evidence came to light in this first court case?
During the trial, the Post Office was finally forced to disclose documentation it had previously claimed was irrelevant; this included log sheets “showing internet problems, network problems, which were causing the errors in the [Horizon] system, which in turn were messing up the figures and causing a financial discrepancy,” says real-life Alliance solicitor James Hartley in the documentary The Real Story of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which can be streamed on PBS Passport. “The transactions that had gone wrong had to be manually corrected. [Fujitsu] had teams of people doing that all day long. … These [log sheets] were multiple smoking guns.”
When the final judgement was handed down in March 2019, “our side was totally crammed with people, Alan Bates says in The Real Story of Mr Bates vs The Post Office. “The other side of the court—there were just two people. They knew what was gonna happen. They knew which way this judgement was going to land.”
- 2.
Does Paula Vennells Still Have the CBE?
On New Year’s Eve, 2018—while the Subpostmasters’ group litigation case was being tried—we see Alan Bates contemplate the announcement that Post Office CEO Paula Vennells is part of the 2019 New Year’s ‘Honour’s List.’ She was to be awarded the “CBE,” or Commander of the British Empire for services to the Post Office and to charity.
At the time, the Justice for Supostmasters Alliance issued a statement noting it was “stunned at how inappropriate” the award was, according to Computer Weekly. “Surely they have made a mistake?” The situation was remedied only after Mr Bates vs The Post Office aired in the UK in January 2024. “More than a million people signed a petition for Ms Vennells to be stripped of her CBE,” reports the BBC. She was subsequently named “in a list published on the Cabinet Office website as an individual whose [honor] had been revoked by King Charles,” says The Guardian (UK).
Vennells finally made a press statement that she was “aware of the calls from Subpostmasters and others to return my CBE. I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.”
- 3.
Where Did Subpostmasters’ Shortfall Payments Go?
In Episode 3, Jo Hamilton finally poses the question we all want to ask: “Where did the money go?” Second Sight’s Bob Rutherford replies he can only guess that it first went to some temporary account, then showed up in Post Office profits. Has it now become clear how much money was unnecessarily paid and where it all went?
It turns out the Post Office has yet to identify the total amount that accused Subpostmasters turned over and “has admitted that due to limitations in underlying accounting systems, it does not have a record of all the money paid,” according to Computer Weekly. “The money went into a general suspense account, rather than a dedicated one,” the Post Office told a parliamentary select committee in 2022.
Former Subpostmaster and current MP Duncan Baker tells Computer Weekly “the Post Office has taken millions upon millions off postmasters.” The magazine maintains the monies “would have gone into the Post Office’s profit and loss account, and ultimately to pay the bonuses of its executives.” When Paula Vennells left her CEO post in 2019 for instance, she ended “a seven-year period as chief executive during which she collected more than £4.5m in pay…and bonuses,” according to The Guardian (UK).
- 4.
Is Alan Bates Still Fighting for Subpostmasters?
After the 2019 court victory portrayed in Episode 3, Alan Bates tells his partner Suzanne he still wants to get the 555 Subpostmasters’ legal costs reimbursed and also seek charges against guilty parties in the Post Office. “Just think of it as a hobby that [has gotten] out of hand,” he tells her.
And yes, Alan Bates is still fighting. After their court victory, the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance requested a statutory public inquiry into the scandal; “statutory” meaning with the power to compel both witnesses and evidence. They got what they wanted in 2021. The inquiry is [as of this April 2024 writing] still ongoing. It acquired more urgency once Mr Bates vs The Post Office aired in the UK in January 2024. After the resulting public outcry, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introduced legislation offering blanket exoneration to those Subpostmasters [in England and Wales] still not cleared of their convictions. “Once this legislation is passed and convictions have been quashed, individuals will be entitled to at least £600,000 in compensation to rebuild their lives,” he said in a statement to the House of Commons.
You can stream the ongoing inquiry hearings on YouTube and follow updates on the status of overturned convictions and compensation on the British Post Office website.
