After 26 years, justice for Horizon IT scandal victim

A 92-YEAR-OLD North East victim of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal has expressed relief after finally receiving a compensation settlement, stating she can now afford to turn her heating on “full blast”.

- KATHRYN RIDDELL AND DAVE BURKE

Betty Brown, the oldest surviving victim of the longstanding injustice, lamented that it took 26 years for her to receive compensation.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: “I can settle up my affairs. I can turn the heating up full blast, and that will be wonderful.”

Mrs Brown, who ran the Annfield Plain Post Office in County Durham with her late husband Oswall, had to use £50,000 of their personal savings to cover nonexistent shortfalls.

She now feels she can “look to the future” and commended Sir Alan Bates as a “hero” for his persistence.

The victim of the Horizon scandal, who previously stated that the ordeal “absolutely destroyed my whole life’, declared: “At last, after 26 years, they've recognised justice.”