Mr Bates vs The Post Office tells the story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system. Many of the wronged workers were prosecuted, some of whom were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, and their lives were irreparably ruined by the scandal.Following the landmark Court of Appeal decision to overturn their criminal convictions, dozens of former sub postmasters and postmistresses have been exonerated on all counts as they battled to finally clear their names. They fought for over ten years finally proving their innocence and sealing a resounding victory, but all involved believe the fight is not over yet, not by a long way.
After a new computer system called Horizon is rolled out across the country, mysterious financial losses start to appear in village Post Office tills. But when subpostmasters Alan Bates, Jo Hamilton, Noel Thomas and Lee Castleton seek help, the Post Office insists that each of them is the only one having problems. Alan refuses to believe it. And when the Post Office goes on to accuse, harass and even prosecute subpostmasters for the shortfalls, Alan leads the fight back. Their lives, livelihoods and good names destroyed, his little band decide to try to clear their names.
Alan and his friends meet Sam Kaur, due to stand trial and suffering mentally, and Michael Rudkin, who has inside knowledge of Horizon. Jo and Alan take their cause to James Arbuthnot MP in Westminster, who persuades the Post Office to hire an independent investigator. As Bob Rutherford starts work, he finds evidence of faults in the IT system, and becomes convinced of the honesty of the subpostmasters. Bob's explosive report rattles Post Office boss, Paula Vennells, who approaches Alan personally to find a solution. But can Alan trust Paula to pursue the truth at any cost?
Alan and Paula together set up a mediation scheme so that subpostmasters can apply for compensation. But for Martin Griffiths, pursued by the Post Office for alleged shortfalls of £60,000, it all comes too late; the desperate father of two dies by suicide. Alan is frustrated by slow progress and bureaucracy hampering the mediation, and James Arbuthnot MP publicly accuses the Post Office of sabotaging it. Two strangers bring new hope: a whistleblower, and a lawyer who thinks Alan finally stands a chance of raising the money to see the Post Office in court.
At the Royal Courts of Justice, Alan and his friends give evidence on behalf of their army of 555 subpostmasters. All hangs on whether nervous whistleblower Richard Roll can describe what happened behind the scenes at the computer giant, Fujitsu. Shockingly, the Post Office tries to dismiss the Judge for bias. But Alan's side is running out of money, and he is forced to settle. Jo leads the successful appeal to have their unfair criminal convictions overturned at last. But though the truth comes out, and their legal victory is complete, there's no money left for compensation for their losses.
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