Post Office scandal: Ex-manager's 'skin turned grey' from stress

A former sub-postmistress has told an inquiry problems with a new accounting software began on day one and resulted in her "complete breakdown".

Wendy Martin, who ran a branch in York for 20 months, said the faulty Horizon system "devastated" her life.

An IT system, installed at post offices across the country, was to blame for accounting errors at hundreds of sites.

Earlier, MPs called on the government to sort compensation for all sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft.

Ms Martin told a public inquiry on Thursday she resorted to videoing herself cashing up, to record the figures which were being shown on the Horizon software alongside what was actually happening in her till.

"My worst discrepancy one day was over £30,000," an amount she would effectively owe the Post Office. "It was awful".

The former sub-postmistress said how she called the Horizon software helpline daily as her modem continually lost connection. Ms Martin said she was repeatedly told to unplug everything and turn it on again.

She said she then noticed that accounting discrepancies would occur at the same times as the loss of connection.

At the time, she closed her branch and refused to re-open until someone from Post Office headquarters addressed the issues with her computer system. Ms Martin told how she was shouted at on the phone by a senior member of the Post Office and told to re-open, which she refused to do.

Ms Martin's witness statement came on the day a Parliamentary Committee said the government needs to work faster to make sure all sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft receive adequate compensation.

The Business Committee has been looking at ways to speed up the compensation process, in parallel to the ongoing public inquiry into the scandal.

Unlike many others involved in the scandal she was not prosecuted, neither was her contract terminated, but Ms Martin shut the doors on the branch after deciding she was fighting a losing battle.

Describing suffering a breakdown as a result of the problems she was facing at work, Ms Martin said: "I just couldn't do it anymore.

"I'd gone to a shade of grey that a human shouldn't be," referring to kidney and liver issues that she suffered during her time at the branch.

She said the rumours of her stealing pushed her to the point of wearing no make-up so that "people could see how ill I looked".

Ms Martin is furious that she has lost so much financially: "I've lost my business… I'm in debt now until I'm in my mid-70s… I've lost the money I invested in my business. I've lost my retirement".

Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 sub-postmasters and mistresses were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting in the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history. A total of 72 have had their names cleared so far.

The inquiry is expected to run for the rest of this year. The software was developed by Japanese company Fujitsu.

The Post Office has previously said it is "sincerely sorry for the impact of the Horizon scandal on the lives of victims and their families and we are in no doubt about the human cost".

"In addressing the past, our first priority is that full, fair and final compensation is provided and we are making good progress," it added.