A widow of a victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal has demanded compensation after she was hit with a measly payout after his death.
Janet Walters, 68, dubbed the cheque a "slap in the face" after she received her husband's offer of redress just days after he died in February at the age of 76.
Terry Walters was one of the hundreds of sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon IT scandal who, in 2019, won a legal case against the Post Office.
Hundreds of sub-postmasters were were wrongly accused and subsequently falsely convicted of thieving from Post Office branches from 1999 to 2015.
Since, the Government has announced that the amount of payments made to those affected has been doubled
PA
He died before he received the total amount that he was owed as a result of the landmark case, although he applied for total financial redress over a year ago.
Since, the Government has announced that the amount of payments made to those affected have doubled.
Just days after Janet lost her husband, the widow received an offer of compensation that has led to her sharing her situation with the public.
"Enough is enough," she declared.
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In 2005, Terry had used the cash he received from his redundancy to buy up the Hockley Post Office in Stockport but was later suspended over claims of shortfalls.
The Post Office ended his contract the next year over false accounting shortfalls.
Since, he and his wife were left to live in rented accommodation after they were forced to sell off their family home 15 years ago.
"To have a big institution such as the Post Office come along and accuse you of doing something – it was devastating and humiliating," Janet said.
"We've lived on promises all this time," she continued, adding: "Seventeen years out of somebody's life is a long time."
By early 2024, The Times reported that more than 250 victims of the national scandal had died before they received full compensation.
Janet said that her husband would have been "over the moon" to be fully compensated
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Most had received an interim payment - including Terry. But Janet noted that the extra money had supported the couple as Terry's health began to suffer, although she added that receiving the total amount would have improved their quality of life.
She said that her husband would have been "over the moon" to be fully compensated.
"We could have done the things we had wanted to do all these years, buy a proper home perhaps, treat ourselves to a nice holiday, go out and do things," she asserted.
The Department for Business and Trade said: "We are sorry to hear of Terry's death and our thoughts are with Janet and the rest of his family and friends."
The Government said that the department has issued 407 offers to the 425 claimants "who have submitted full claims" and are "making offers to 89 per cent of GLO claimants within 40 working days of receipt of a full claim, with over half of eligible claimants having now settled their claim."
