Featured Image Credit: ITV
Topics: UK News, TV and Film, ITV
Claire Reid
Post Office scandal hero Alan Bates has been praised for turning down an OBE.
The scandal saw numerous sub postmasters be wrongly accused and convicted of theft and fraud due to an IT glitch - with some even being jailed for crimes they didn’t commit.
It is to be one of the UK’s biggest miscarriage of justice and the story is currently being told in the ITV four-part drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
In the show, which some viewers said left them feeling ‘sick’, real-life former sub postmaster Bates is played by Toby Jones - a man determined to fight for justice for those caught up in the scandal.
A release from ITV explains: “The drama tells the story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system.
Advert
"Many of the wronged workers were prosecuted, some of whom were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, and their lives were irreparably ruined by the scandal.
“Following the landmark Court of Appeal decision to overturn their criminal convictions, dozens of former sub postmasters and postmistresses have been exonerated on all counts as they battled to finally clear their names.
"They fought for over ten years finally proving their innocence and sealing a resounding victory, but all involved believe the fight is not over yet, not by a long way.”
Commenting on the show, the real-life Bates said: "This is one of the most egregious scandals the country has ever seen and a major corporation has managed to keep it covered up for years.
Advert
"Thankfully this has now been exposed and the victims are finally on their way to finding the justice they deserve."
And former Countdown star Carol Vorderman was quick to heap praise on Bates after it was revealed he had turned down an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) due to his anger at the fact former Post Office boss Paula
Vennells had became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019.
Speaking to the Mirror, Bates said: “The first thing that sprang to my mind while reading the letter was Paula Vennells still had a CBE. I felt so deeply insulted.”
Advert
So Bates wrote back to say he wouldn’t be accepting the OBE.
Posting on X, Vorderman hailed Bates as a ‘man of honour’, writing: "Alan Bates turned down an OBE as Paula Vennells, the woman in charge of the Post Office through the Horizon Scandal, retains her CBE and refuses to give it back.”
Conservative minster Kevin Hollinrake also told ITV's Good Morning Britain that Vennells should 'seriously consider handing that back voluntarily at this point in time'.