Former subpostmaster ‘needs vindication’ as he takes legal action

A former subpostmaster said he “needs vindication” as he started a legal action against the Post Office and Fujitsu over the Horizon IT scandal.

Lee Castleton, who is the first individual to sue the two organisations in the wake of the controversy, told BBC Breakfast: “To be honest, I’m tired of people telling me what to do and what not to do.

“I think it’s about time we were listened to.”

He is seeking to have a civil action taken against him by the Post Office overturned or set aside.

Mr Castleton was sued by the Post Office for £25,000 it said was missing from his branch in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, in 2007.

His two-year legal fight saw him declared bankrupt following legal costs of £321,000.

He said he had little faith in compensation schemes set up by the Post Office for wrongfully-convicted subpostmasters.

According to the BBC, he instructed his solicitors to launch High Court proceedings against the Post Office and Fujitsu on Tuesday.

Mr Castleton, who was made OBE for services to justice in the New Year Honours, told BBC Breakfast: “The schemes aren’t fit for purpose, but for me personally I need vindication.

“I need to right the wrongs of the past for me personally as well as help the group.

“You’ve got to do what you feel is right.”

Asked about how his name has never been fully cleared, he said: “The matter of the court in 2007 is still there.

“It still stands against me and I’d like not only to get rid of that, to overturn that, but I’d like it done in the correct way.”

“I feel to go through the compensation side of things right now without having set aside the original judgment would be the wrong thing to do,” he added.

“If you look at the claim schemes, every single point you make within your claim is then litigated without a judge.

“So every single point is asked for, with proof, and argued and denied by the other side.

“You go through this traumatic two, three, four years in some cases to get to the end of that compensation journey.

“I would like to have a judge in the middle of that for me.

“So that when I present my case, and they present their case, it’s not their say-so of what is right and wrong, it’s a formal, independent practitioner.”

His lawyer Simon Goldberg, from Simons Muirhead Burton, said: “Mr Castleton’s case is correcting the wrongs that have been done.

“What Mr Castleton is claiming is for the judgment to be set aside, because we argue it was obtained on the grounds of fraud, and compensation for the wrongs done to him.”

A Post Office spokesperson previously said: “We recognise that many victims of the Horizon IT Scandal continue to be impacted by their experience.

“Post Office today is committed to doing all we can to help those affected get closure.

“We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings but once we receive the claim, we will engage fully in the process.”