Seema Misra, an Indian-origin former manager of a Post Office branch in England, has rejected the apology of a former boss of the government-owned entity during an ongoing public inquiry into an accounting scandal that led to her wrongful imprisonment over a decade ago.
Misra, now 47, had her conviction quashed in April 2021 after being accused of stealing GBP 75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey where she was the sub-postmistress. During Thursday’s hearings for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry in London, former Post Office Managing Director David Smith apologized for a congratulatory email he sent after Misra’s conviction.
However, Misra, speaking to reporters, expressed her rejection of the apology, stating, “I was eight weeks pregnant – they need to apologize to my youngest son. It was terrible. I haven’t accepted the apologies.” She highlighted the trauma of her imprisonment, serving four-and-a-half months in Bronzefield prison and giving birth to her second son while wearing an electronic tag.
The UK government, which owns Post Office Ltd, has paid out millions in compensation to hundreds of sub-postmasters impacted by the faulty Horizon software. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged action in the historic scandal, with a new law introduced to quash convictions brought about by erroneous Horizon evidence.
The public inquiry into the scandal, which involves many sub-postmasters of Indian heritage, is expected to conclude in July. The Horizon system, developed by Fujitsu, has been under scrutiny for its bugs that led to misreporting and false accusations against innocent individuals like Misra.