Who is Alan Bates?
POST Office workers were wrongly accused of theft and fraud after a dodgy computer system caused accounting discrepancies, in what is widely considered to be one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in UK history.
Here we take a look at the life of Alan Bates, the person who stood up to these false allegations, which have been documented in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
Who is Alan Bates?
Alan Bates, 68, is a former subpostmaster who shone a light on one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history.
He campaigned tirelessly for over two decades, tenaciously ensuring those wronged by the scandal were exonerated — and those guilty of facilitating it were held to account
In January 2023 Alan rejected an OBE for services to justice, saying it was "inappropriate" to accept the honour while victims still suffer, and one of those at fault in the scandal he exposed — Paula Vennels — retained her CBE, which she was awarded with in the 2019 New Year's Honours list and still holds.
What happened to Alan Bates?
Among a great many other subpostmasters, Alan was falsely accused by his employers the Post Office of committing a number of serious crimes, when in fact a faulty computer system was to blame.
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Bates led a group of his colleagues to take action against the Post Office.
This led to victory in court and damages being paid to the claimants.
Why did Alan Bates take action against the Post Office?
Between 1999 and 2015 thousands of subpostmasters were wrongly accused of stealing, false accounting and fraud by the Post Office when, in fact, it was their own failing computer system causing accounting discrepancies.
Many were jailed and some suffered great mental turmoil, with at least four of them going on to take their own lives.
However, the shortfall was actually caused by the faulty Horizon IT accounting system, which led to more than 700 subpostmasters and -mistresses being prosecuted.
Bates, who himself had to leave his job over financial shortfalls, decided enough was enough and brought victims together to fight for justice.
In November 2018 the subpostmasters got their day in court, with the Post Office ultimately reaching a settlement with the group of 555 individuals worth £57.75 million.
Due to enormous legal fees, however, only around £12 million of that sum could be shared among the claimants, which equated to as little as £20,000 compensation per person.
But many of those named in Bates' case were not eligible to apply for the scheme, leaving them worse off than their peers.
This injustice was corrected in March 2022, when the government announced a .
What has Alan Bates said about the case?
In July 2023 around £100million had been paid out by the Post Office and government to more than 2,000 hit by the scandal, but more than 500 were still owed compensation.
At the time Bates, the man who led the group of more than 500 former subpostmasters to expose the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, called for quick action.
He said: “The Post Office has failed full disclosure to the courts, it has failed disclosure with the inquiry, and worst of all it’s now failed the victims who continue to suffer and are desperately waiting to get on with their lives.
“Who is to blame for letting this go on without end?
“It has to be the fault of Government, the sole shareholder of Post Office.
“So, instead of handing out huge bonuses at Post Office, try handing out P45s, I bet that works.”
In reference to the injustice of some of the original 555 claimants being ineligible to apply for the Historical Shortfall Scheme, Bates said: "For me to try and draw a line under my involvement will be when the initial 555, the group that brought the court action, have received the financial redress due to them.
That's a process that is underway now, and in theory, should be finished by August of next year.
"You will never be able to repay people for what they've gone through and you will never be able to give them back all those years of suffering that they've had to endure.
";But hopefully it might alleviate some of their problems going forward.
"Another issue, and my current source of campaigning, is around the mental anguish of the families.
"At the moment the government hasn’t taken that on board. These families need professional mental health assessments and support, not just financially but in other ways as well."
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And speaking about ITV's Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Alan said: "Over the years a lot of words have been written about how lives have been wrecked by an out of control government organisation, however they have never come close to expressing the true horrors that have been inflicted on people.
"I think this drama is the first time anything has come close to getting across the suffering many of the victims have had to cope with."