Post Office scandal: Widow of exonerated sub-postmaster wants to know why investigator ignored his ‘good record’

Published

1 year ago

January 23, 2024

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The widow of a sub-postmaster who was convicted as part of the Post Office scandal says she wants to know why the investigator ignored his “good record” – with her husband having been a police officer for 12 years before he started running the shop in Newcastle.

Marion Holmes spoke to Sky News as she prepares to see Robert Daily, the former Post Office investigator who brought criminal proceedings against her husband Peter, appear before the public inquiry into the scandal today.

Mr Holmes had been a sub-postmaster at Jesmond Post Office for 13 years when he was accused of stealing £46,000 in 2008.

He was one of more than 700 sub-postmasters who were prosecuted over claims they were stealing from the Post Office – but the missing money was actually due to errors in the Horizon software, which was developed by Fujitsu.

The ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which was broadcast earlier this month, has raised the profile of the inquiry and the injustice suffered by the hundreds of sub-postmasters.

Mr Holmes’ case went to court in 2010, with the Post Office saying they would drop the theft charge if he pleaded guilty to false accounting.

The former police officer agreed and was given a three-month curfew, where he was only allowed to be out of the house between 7am and 7pm, as part of his community order sentence.

Mr Holmes died of a brain tumour in 2015 aged 68 – six years before he was exonerated in April 2021.

Asked by Sky presenter Sarah-Jane Mee on her show The UK Tonight what she wants to hear from Mr Daily when he appears at the inquiry, Mrs Holmes said on Monday: “Why he didn’t listen to the fact that Peter had a good record, an ex-policeman?

“Nobody believed him, I just wish somebody had just listened to him.

“It was obvious he wasn’t guilty… Nobody that knew Peter ever thought that he was guilty.”

Ms Holmes also remembered her husband’s “hurt” after seeing a newspaper article which read “ex-policeman guilty of false accounting”.

She continued: “I think that was what really hurt him because it was just there in black and white.”

Recalling the moment her husband first told her of the allegation against him, Mrs Holmes said: “That was like a bombshell.

“But we never thought that anything would come of it because we knew he was innocent.”

Mrs Holmes also talked about the stress her husband was under while he was investigated by the Post Office and the police.

She said: “We knew there was something wrong… my daughter and I could hear him throwing up in the bathroom.

“But when we asked him what was wrong, he said ‘Oh, nothing. I was just coughing.'”

Asked what it was like for her husband, a retired police officer, to be convicted of a crime, Mrs Holmes said: “It just shut him down. Fortunately, the day that we came out of court, a friend said go on to the computer and type in ‘Post Office problems’.

“So straight away we heard of Alan Bates and the JFSA (Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance) and that weekend we had to go down there, they were having a meeting down at a solicitors down in Bedford… we already by then knew that there were several others (who had been accused).

“That helped us a lot because when we sat around the room and everybody told their story, they were almost all identical.”

Mrs Holmes said she feels “sad” her husband wasn’t exonerated until after his death, adding: “But it can’t be changed, so there’s no point in dwelling on it.”

The widow also said she wishes Mr Holmes was here to see “what is happening now” since the ITV drama raised the profile of the miscarriage of justice, with the hundreds of Post Office scandal victims to be exonerated and compensated.

UK

Man, 53, charged over Liverpool parade incident

Published

13 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Man, 53, charged over Liverpool parade incident

A 53-year-old man has been charged after a car was driven into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s trophy parade.

Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, has been charged with seven offences, Merseyside Police said.

The businessman, who is a father-of-three, is accused of two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two counts of causing unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Doyle is also accused of two counts of attempted unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and one count of dangerous driving.

He is due to appear before Liverpool Magistrates Court on Friday.

The charges relate to six people, including two children. A wounding charge and an attempted grievous bodily harm charge relate to a child.

A police car was outside Doyle’s four-bedroom detached family home in the West Derby area on Thursday morning.

According to his social media, he has travelled extensively including Japan, Fiji, India and Australia. Doyle has posted pictures of himself competing in triathlons, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Thousands of fans were gathered in Liverpool city centre on Monday to celebrate the Premier League champions’ title win when a car struck a crowd on Water Street.

Police said a total of 79 people were injured in the incident, with the youngest aged nine, and the oldest being a 78-year-old.

Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition.

‘Huge volume of evidence’

Chief crown prosecutor for the CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, told a news conference on Thursday that the investigation was at an early stage and a “huge volume of evidence” was being reviewed.

“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure that every victim gets the justice they deserve.

“The charges will be kept under review as the investigation progresses.”

Police ‘working tirelessly’

Also at the briefing where the charges were announced was Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Jenny Sims, who said: “I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened, and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions.

“Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism, to seek the answer to all of those questions. When we are able to, we will provide further information.”

UK

Body found in search for missing teenage girl who fell into reservoir

Published

13 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Body found in search for missing teenage girl who fell into reservoir

A body has been found in the search for a missing teenage girl who fell into a reservoir, police have said.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed they recovered a body from the Baitings Reservoir, near Ripponden, on Thursday afternoon.

A formal identification is yet to take place, but police believe the body to be that of the missing teenage girl.

The girl’s family have been informed.

Emergency services were called to the reservoir at 1.17pm on Wednesday following reports that a teenage girl had fallen into the water from Baitings Dam.

Police, fire and ambulance crews, as well as an underwater search team, were deployed to the scene for the search, which continued on Thursday until a body was found.

Detective Inspector Laura Hall of Calderdale’s Safeguarding Team said: “While formal identification is yet to take place, the girl’s family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

“My thoughts go out to her family and friends at this very sad time.

“Our enquiries are continuing into the death in order to establish exactly what happened yesterday, but we do not believe it to be suspicious.”

UK

Ages of youngest and oldest Liverpool crash victims released

Published

14 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Ages of youngest and oldest Liverpool crash victims released

The youngest victim injured in the Liverpool parade crash on Monday is nine years old, police have said.

They added that the oldest is 78, with all 79 people injured understood to be British. Seven remain in hospital in a stable condition.

Merseyside Police declined to say what drug the 53-year-old man arrested over the incident is alleged to have taken.

“We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation,” the force said.

Police are still questioning the driver and were granted further time to do so on Wednesday.

Officers have until Thursday evening to question the man from West Derby.

He is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.

Police believe the car which struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.

Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans had turned out to celebrate their team’s Premier League title when the incident unfolded on Water Street just after 6pm on Monday.

‘The best day of my life turned into worst’

Sky News interviewed a lifelong Liverpool fan who said his five-month-old son was “bounced” 15ft (4.6m) in his pram after they were hit by the vehicle.

The child was not counted in the police’s injury tally.

Daniel Eveson, 36, also said his partner had been driven over.

“The best day of my life turned into [the] worst,” Mr Eveson said.

He added: “Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.

“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Liverpool to meet with police chiefs and the local metro mayor.

He said he was being kept informed of developments, adding: “The scenes on Monday were just awful, to see how incredible joy at an amazing achievement turned to horror in a moment.”

Messages of support have been sent to the people of Liverpool, including from the King who said: “I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were “deeply saddened” by the incident.