'Why have Post Office bosses not been charged with conspiracy?"

Sub-postmaster spent Christmas in jail and missed birth of child

- Robert Kellaway

A FURIOUS one-time sub-postmaster called yesterday for former Post Office chief Paula Vennells and other executives to be prosecuted for fraud and conspiracy.

Damian Owen, 40, was sent to prison for eight months when faulty Fujitsu software created a phantom £25,000 loss at his Post Office branch.

Detectives investigated the nonexistent shortfall at his Glanadda shop in Bangor, North Wales, in 2010 but did not proceed.

Mr Owen said: "It was more money than we carried in the branch anyway, it's only a small branch.

Convicted

"The police investigated, they said there's no case to answer, so I thought, 'Brilliant, done"."

But the Post Office insisted on a prosecution and he was convicted of theft and sent to jail in Liverpool, where he spent Christmas and missed the birth of his first child.