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ee,
Note
Client: Royal Mail Group PLC Sub Postmaster Litigation
Matter: Mr Lee Castleton Matter no: 348035.134
Attending: Interview with Gregory John Booth
Name: Stephen Dilley Location: N/A Date: 30 August 2006
Start time: Units:
Mr Booth has worked for eight years in the Post Office business. Before he was an
Accountant at Coopers & Lybrand.
Whilst in the Post Office he spent five years as Sub-Postmaster of Edgehill Branch from
October 1998 to September 2003. He was then Sub-Postmaster for Southcliff for six months
from September 2003 to February 2004 as a temporary Sub-Postmaster. He then had a
break for 6-7 weeks before being the relief Sub-Postmaster at Marine Drive. After working
at Marine Drive, he has done various other relief work. He is currently Manager (a
permanent position) and has been for six months, although he has been effectively doing the
job for one year because six months previously were as a relief at Newby Post Office 401
Scalby Road, Scarborough YO12 6TQ.
Greg was approached by Kath Oversby to take over as relief at the Marine Drive Branch . He
was the relief from 21 April - 28 May 2004 and stayed there five weeks. He employed Joan
Train (Christine Train’s mother-in-law) to assist him during that time behind the Post Office
Counter. Joan Train had not worked at Marine Drive Branch before but she had just at that
time left another Post Office in Bridlington, 1 On Quay Road (which has since closed). He
does not think Joan Train carried on working at the Branch after then. The way it works with
employees is that effectively the Sub-Postmaster has a contract to provide services for the
Post Office and then whoever he employs is his responsibility. They are employed by him.
At the time Christine Train was employed in the shop but not behind the Post Office counter,
because Cath Oglesby would not let her do this.
Running through with him the suspense account exercise that Cath Oglesby asked him to do
and just going through the figures with him to check that he was happy with them.
Then asking whether he used two machines. He said that he did. He used one and Joan
used another, but Joan worked two or three days per week part time. When she wasn’t
working part time he was still running both machines because he’d use one to do some
things and one to do other things.
T asked him specifically whether he had any of the following problems :-
1. Non-communication between PC’s. He didn’t come across that.
2. Screen freezing. He cannot remember coming across that.
He said that it is not uncommon for the screen to freeze but even it does, you can still use
the key-pad to complete a transaction.
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3. Blank Screen. He can’t remember seeing a blank screen.
rhe card-swipe not working. He said that if a card-swipe wasn’t working it was usually
because a card was defective. He would just physically key in the card number instead.
The card’s details wouldn’t be misread if the swipe wasn’t working, just not record any of the
information at all. This can happen at any time. He said that even wrong information will
not be recorded if it is not working it just won't record any information.
5. ONCH doubling up figures. He wasn’t aware of that.
6. Transactions being entered but being lost. He can’t remember that.
He has been trying to think what might possibly have caused the errors at the Branch. This
is his hypothesis (and it is only that):-
There was a car auction in Bridlington, every week, sometimes once a week, sometimes
twice. It deposited approximately £15-20,000 of cash in a bag or boxes. The car auctions
paying in book was retained behind the counter. It should have been with the customer and
this was against protocol. The car auction didn’t leave a record of the amount they were
depositing and left the Branch to count that. Often the car auction would just drop the
money off with Lee Castleton in the Post Office Shop before the Post Office opened. It was
money that was paid into a Girobank account. He wonders whether the car auction money
deposited was mixed with the cash in the Post Office till before it was counted with the result
that the auction was credited with some of the money from the till i.e. more than it had
actually paid in and consequently the till would lose cash.
The other point he wants to make was that Mr Castleton was inexperienced and he didn’t feel
Mr Castleton necessarily got the help he needed with the till or that it wasn’t investigated
until after he was suspended.
He understands that Mr Castleton previously worked at a Merchant Bank in London and
would be going back to it afterwards. He also believes that the Marine Drive Branch is
currently for sale.
He wouldn’t say that Marine Drive Branch had experienced any problems that you wouldn’t
routinely get in any other Branch and the problems that it did experience would not leave to
financial difficulties.
He said in relation to lottery, all that was entered the next day except on Wednesdays when
the Post Master would have to ensure that it was entered before he opened for business on
Thursday.
He also thinks that somebody else may have worked behind the Post Office or Shop counter
that Lee Castleton didn’t keep on after he was suspended.
The only other thing he wanted to mention was that in October 2004 he was approached by
Cath Oglesby to take over from Dorothy Day. Lee Castleton called Greg Booth on the phone
two or three times and threatened him that if he took over, there might be some damage to
his car. He wanted to make life difficult for him. This is because Lee Castleton wanted to
maintain the same Sub-Postmaster. He told Cath Oglesby that was why he could not get
involved.
He left me take a copy of a letter he sent to Cath Oglesby in this regard.
He also confirmed that he didn’t recall any IT equipment being changed whilst he worked
there.
Explained to him about the conference with Counsel and he will see whether he can make it
due to other commitments.
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