12: Ep12 - Deirdre Connolly - a Subpostmaster who still hasn't had any interim compensation
Investigating the Post Office ScandalShow Notes
Deirdre Connolly is a former Subpostmaster from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. She was one of the 555 civil litigants who took the Post Office to the High Court and won. In 2010, Deirdre, who had successfully run her Post Office in Killeter without a problem for four years, was told she had a £15,000 discrepancy. She was suspended without pay on the spot. Deirdre was asked by a Post Offie investigator if she was working with the paramilitaries. A whispering campaign began in her local village. Deirdre's mental health fell apart. Her family suffered. She went bankrupt. After nine years of fighting, Deirdre received £11,000 as part of the 2019 High Court settlement fee. She has received nothing since, despite the government making a £19.5m pot of interim compensation available to the 555 in March this year, telling them they'd get their share in 'weeks'. Deirdre tells a good story and she's a great interviewee. The companion piece to this episode - The Compensation Catch - can be found on the Post Office Scandal website, here. Deirdre's witness statement to the Post Office inquiry can be found here. Her oral evidence to Sir Wyn Williams can be seen here.
More from Investigating the Post Office Scandal
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Rebecca and I were delighted to record an episode with Howe and Co partner David Enright, a lawyer who represents more than 100 Subpostmasters at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. This is a proper wide-ranging chat covering Sir Wyn Williams compensation report, the Post Office disclosure debacle, bonusgate, restorative justice, whether ALL Post Office prosecutions should be re-examined, how long the inquiry will last and what it's like to be working at the coal face of a process like this.
As both Nick and Rebecca were unable to attend the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry Compensation Hearing on 27 April, they thought it best to speak to some people who were. Sadly Rebecca was also unable to co-host the podcast so Nick brought in Professor Richard Moorhead from Exeter University (and member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board), Helen Lacey from Bath Publishing (and trustee of the Horizon Scandal Fund) and Robert Nicholson, Senior Editor at Whistledown Productions (and award-winning producer of the BBC's Great Post Office Trial series) to help talk around the issues raised.