Post Office scandal: Daughter has had ‘panic attacks’ since mum was accused of stealing
The daughter of a Post Office victim has told Sky News she suffered “dark thoughts of suicide” in the years after her mother was accused of stealing.
Kate Burrows was 14 years old when her mother, Elaine Hood, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted in 2003.
The first public inquiry report on the Post Office – examining redress and the “human impact” of the scandal – is due to be published today.
“I’ve suffered with panic attacks from about 14, 15 years old, and I still have them to this day,” Kate said.
“I’ve been in and out of therapy for what feels like most of my adult life and it absolutely categorically goes back to [what happened].”
Kate and Rebecca with their mother, Elaine
Kate, along with others, helped set up the charity Lost Chances, supporting the children of Post Office victims. She hopes the inquiry will recognise their suffering.
“It’s important that our voices are heard,” she said. “Not only within the report, but in law actually.
“And then maybe that would be a deterrent for any future cover-ups, that it’s not just the one person it’s the whole family [affected].”
Her sister, Rebecca Richards, who was 18 when their mother was accused, described how an eating disorder “escalated” after what happened.
“When my mum was going through everything, my only control of that situation was what food I put in my body,” she said.
Elaine with her husband
She also said that seeing her mother at court when she was convicted, would “stay with me forever”.
“The two investigators were sat in front of my dad and I, sniggering and saying ‘we’ve got this one’.
“To watch my mum in the docks handcuffed to a guard… not knowing if she was going to be coming home… that is the most standout memory for me.”
The sisters are hoping the inquiry findings will push Fujitsu into fulfilling a promise they made nearly a year ago – to try and help the children of victims.
The siblings were teenagers when their mum was unfairly prosecuted
Last summer, Kate met with the European boss of the company, Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways they could support Lost Chances.
Despite appearing at the inquiry in November last year and saying he would not “stay silent” on the issue, Kate said there has been little movement in terms of support.
“It’s very much a line of ‘we’re going to wait until the end of the inquiry report to decide’,” she said.
“But Mr Patterson met us in person, looked us in the eye, and we shared the most deeply personal stories and he said we will do something… they need to make a difference.”
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2024: Paula Vennells breaks down in tears
Fujitsu, who developed the faulty Horizon software, has said it is in discussions with the government regarding a contribution to compensation.
The inquiry will delve in detail into redress schemes, of which four exist, three controlled by the government and one by the Post Office.
Victims of the scandal say they are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the inquiry, will recommend that the government and the Post Office are removed from the redress schemes as thousands still wait for full and fair redress.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were “grateful” for the inquiry’s work, describing “the immeasurable suffering” victims endured and saying the government has “quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters”, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
A police officer has described the moment he was shot with a crossbow – as his “extremely dangerous” attacker was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Jason King, 54, fired the weapon at PC Curtis Foster after stabbing a neighbour, a man in his 60s, following an altercation in Downley, Wycombe, on 10 May last year.
PC Foster was struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt while King chased after him and his fellow unarmed officer.
Jason King armed with the crossbow chases the officer. Pic: Thames Valley Police
King stabbed his neighbour in the stomach following an altercation. Pic: Thames Valley Police
“I knew something had impacted me, but my adrenaline was so high that the pain wasn’t really there,” PC Foster said.
“I first realised I was bleeding quite a lot when I could feel it running down my leg, and then I touched my leg with above my trousers, and my whole hand was red where it’d gone through my trousers already.”
PC Foster and his colleague cleared the area of civilians, while armed officers chased King to a local park.
King also fired the crossbow at a police dog but missed.
He was ordered to drop the weapon, but instead started running with it in hand towards the exit of the park to where PC Foster had escaped.
An armed officer fired one shot at King, striking him in the abdomen, to stop him.
PC Curtis Foster was hit in the leg by a crossbow bolt shot by King. Pic: Thames Valley Police
PC Foster. Pic: Thames Valley Police
‘Covered in my blood’
As King was apprehended, paramedics and his fellow officers treated the seriously injured PC Foster.
“There was a lot of blood. My two colleagues that turned up initially on scene were covered in my blood – that’s how much blood I’d lost,” PC Foster said.
“When we got to the hospital, the doctor had a feel of it and said that I was really lucky it didn’t strike an artery. It was a couple of centimetres away from hitting an artery in the back of my leg.”
PC Foster has since made a full recovery, as did the neighbour King stabbed.
King himself was taken to hospital under police supervision with potentially life-changing injuries and was discharged 10 days later, when he was arrested and taken into police custody.
King was apprehended by armed police officers in a nearby park. Pic: Thames Valley Police
On Wednesday, King was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court for nine years with a further three years on extended licence having previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray regarding the incident.
“Jason King will now serve a substantial prison sentence as a result of his violent actions on 10 May 2024. The community and residents of Downley are much safer for it,” said senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Nick Hind.
He added: “The courage of our officers in dealing with this incident was second to none.”
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‘Significant threat to police’
DI Hind explained that the impact the incident had in the local community couldn’t be underestimated as King was “an extremely dangerous man, who posed a significant threat to police, other emergency services and members of the community”.
A mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was made after the police shooting of King.
The IOPC, which concluded its investigation in November, commended “everybody involved in this incident”, according to DI Hind.
A member of rap trio Kneecap was greeted by hundreds of supporters as he arrived at court this morning, charged with allegedly supporting a proscribed terror organisation.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year.
Demonstrators waving flags and holding banners in support of the rapper greeted him with cheers as he made his way into Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
The rapper is mobbed by fans and media as he arrives at court. Pics: PA
Supported by his Kneecap bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, it took the rapper more than a minute to enter the building as security officers worked to usher him inside through a crowd of photographers.
Fans held signs which read “Free Mo Chara”, while others waved Irish and Palestinian flags.
As the hearing got under way, O hAnnaidh confirmed his name, date of birth and address, with the court hearing an Irish language interpreter would be present.
During a previous hearing, prosecutors said the 27-year-old is “well within his rights” to voice his opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but said the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town was a “wholly different thing”.
O hAnnaidh is yet to enter a plea to the charge.
Bandmates Naoise O Caireallain (pictured, centre) and JJ O Dochartaigh are supporting O hAnnaidh. Pic: Reuters
Who are Kneecap?
Kneecap put out their first single in 2017 and rose to wider prominence in 2024 after the release of their debut album and an eponymously titled film – a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and their fight to save the Irish language.
The film, in which the trio play themselves and co-star alongside starring Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender, won the BAFTA for outstanding debut earlier this year, for director and writer Rich Peppiatt.
Last year, they won a discrimination case against the UK government after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was business secretary.
They are known for songs including H.O.O.D, Fine Art, and Better Way To Live, featuring Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten.
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