Post Office campaigner Bates awarded knighthood

The subpostmaster who exposed the Post Office Horizon IT scandal received a knighthood at Windsor Castle yesterday.

- ALEX CROFT

Sir Alan Bates, 70, led a decades-long campaign to expose the national scandal, which saw more than 700 subpostmasters prosecuted by the Post Office and given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015.

Sir Alan was the figurehead in the drive to clear his colleagues’ names and win compensation after they were wrongly accused of stealing money from the Post Office.

The accusations came after Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear money was missing from some branches.

He arrived at Windsor Castle with his wife, Lady Suzanne Sercombe, where he was awarded the honour which recognises services to justice.

After collecting his award from the Princess Royal, Sir Alan said it came “out of the blue” when he was offered the knighthood in June.

“It was a bit of a surprise, it sort of came out of the blue,” he said. “I’m quite honoured by it – to be recognised for the work that I’ve done over the years. It’s been a hard slog over many years.