First lawsuit against Post Office and Fujitsu over Horizon scandal

A FORMER sub-postmaster portrayed in the ITV1 drama about the Post Office scandal has become the first to take both his ex-employer and Fujitsu to court.

- By Chris Riches

Lee Castleton, 56 — played by Will Mellor in Mr Bates Vs The Post Office — bought a post office in Bridlington, East Yorks, in 2003 but within a year its computer system showed a £25,000 shortfall.

Like more than 700 other sub-postmasters he was a victim of Fujitsu’s Horizon accounting software that wrongly generated losses.

However, while others were convicted in criminal cases, Lee was taken to a civil court by the Post Office and ordered to repay the cash and stump up costs of £321,000, which bankrupted him.

The convictions were quashed last year but Lee’s civil judgment still stands. His legal action is to set aside, or overturn, it.