Jo Hamilton is one of the victims of the notorious Post Office scandal who is leading the fight for justice and winning.
Having lived in South Warnborough for many years Jo decided, with a bit of encouragement from local people , to take over the village shop and post office . Little did she know her life was about to change forever.
The shop was going from strength to strength and, so she thought, was the post office . New technology was being brought in to revolutionise the accounting procedure. What was not to love?!
Just as depicted in the drama her discrepancies/shortfalls grew from the get go . Having been told she was the only one having problems, she believed she was being stupid with the new technology and it was all her fault. She literally shovelled money into her post office to plug the ever increasing deficit in the accounts. She had dug herself into a hole she could not get out of. She had to do something …
She rang the post office and flagged the £36k deficit. She was suspended, sacked and charged with theft. She ended up in Winchester Crown Court and having always pleaded not guilty to theft, a plea bargain was offered at the eleventh hour. Plead guilty to false accounting and the theft charge would be dropped. Having always felt guilty for hiding the initial shortfall she took the plea bargain. It might just keep her out of prison!
Eventually sentencing day arrived. To her complete surprise 74 people, including the vicar, turned up to court to support her. Facing a custodial sentence she stood and waited for the words "take her down". The judge was so confused with the level of her support he spared her a prison sentence. She had to go on probation for 12 months. Phew!
The resulting coverage in the national papers was far and wide, and reached other sub postmasters, including Alan Bates. They began communicating with each other and started joining up the dots. They had well and truly been shafted by a state owned, respectable and trusted organisation.
Their first meeting in Fenny Compton village hall was a landmark event. They realised they were not the " only ones" for the very first time, but they had no clue of what lay ahead. It was to be the most epic battle against the state owned Post office and they didn't have a penny between them. What could they do?
They elected Alan as leader and formed a small army right behind him. They took the fight to the Post Office but had no idea how long it would all take.
They had two massive court victories in 2019 . At last a judge determined the Post Office had gone rogue and abused its position and power with the sub postmasters. Sadly this was not the end but the very beginning of their battle to get convictions quashed and financial redress for them all.
It was during this battle a drama was being skilfully put together, with a phenomenal cast and a great script writer to be broadcast on ITV.
Nobody expected the drama to land like it did with the British public. It was so very powerful and the public reaction has forced unprecedented change in policy. She was overwhelmed, from the moment it aired, with texts and phone calls from the media and friends . It was quite literally bonkers! She can never thank people enough for their love and support.
Today they are still fighting, determined not to stop until the last person is cleared and adequately compensated.