WITNO1610100
WITNESS: HASMUKH SHINGADIA
STATEMENT NUMBER: WITNO161_01
EXHIBITS: 0
DATED: Jan 13, 2022
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WRITTEN STATEMENT OF HASMUKH SHINGADIA
THIS STATEMENT IS PROVIDED IN RESPONSE TO THE RULE 9 REQUEST OF
THE PUBLIC INQUIRY DATED 29/10/2021 TO ADDRESS THE HUMAN IMPACT
OF THE FAILINGS OF THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM
I, MR HASMUKH SHINGADIA, Date of Birth,
will say as follows:-
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
1. lam 62 years old, and I am a hard-working family man.
2. Iam devoted to my wife and children.
3. Throughout my life, I had sought to provide them with a comfortable, happy
home.
4. I also take great pride in my community.
5. I still see myself as remaining in my role at the village store for the
foreseeable future.
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6. Ithas always been my intention to remain in Upper Bucklebury and immerse
myself and my family in village life.
POST OFFICE HISTORY
7. My wife and I got married in 1996 and moved to Dublin.
8. This was my second marriage and we had a 5 year old step daughter,
I was working nights and my wife worked days.
9. We came back to England in 1997, and I worked at Gatwick airport. My wife
and I used to help my brother with his business in Horsham in West Sussex,
and we had retail experience.
10.We lived in Crawley in a flat which had shops below it. My wife worked
making badges for cars and I worked for a car hire firm at the airport.
11.We wanted a better work life balance and a better family life fo! ‘GRO;
12. The man who owned the shop below where we lived, asked me to run the
shop. We then decided to try and buy something ourselves, so we could be
there for our daughter
when she came home from school.
13.We went all over the country looking at different shops, 60 to 70 businesses.
Sometimes the accommodation was nice, but the business wasn’t, and vice
versa.
14.We came to Upper Buckleberry to look at the Post Office and decided it was
the right one for us.
15. The village was lovely and the location was where we had been hoping to
settle.
16.I took over the business on 27" October 1998.
17.1 left Gatwick airport and I became Sub-postmaster of the branch.
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18.I remember having to submit a business plan to the Post Office and I had to
apply for a loan to buy the shop. Putting together the plan was hard, and the
gentleman in charge, Darren, was awkward and I really had to convince him
that I could manage the Post Office. The shop at the time was only open until
5.30pm and I said I would keep it open longer. It took a bit of convincing on
my part, but I was enthusiastic, and I really wanted to make a go of it. It was
to be my family’s future.
19.1 was provided with a contract, but no one explained it to me. I read it through
it and spoke with a couple of other Sub-post masters who knew.
20. The shop was quite small at this time and we gutted it and started again.
21.We got rid of equipment, and I joined Spar who helped me re-merchandise.
22.1 went for 2 weeks training in Guilford. I was provided with training
documentation and manuals, and given training on balancing.
23.Whilst I was there, my wife ran the shop and restored the shelves and
cleaned everything. I think it took us about 6 weeks to get it how we wanted.
24.We did not rest on our laurels , and in 2001 we extended to 1300 square feet
and extended our opening hours until 99m on weekdays and Saturdays and
6pm on Sundays. At one point we were taking about £17,000 per week.
25. The Post Office had a flat upstairs which was one of the reasons why we
chose the business. I think we paid around £57,000 and we took a
commercial loan out of £40,000. We paid £17,000 ourselves and then £7000
for stock, plus legal costs.
26.We lived above the shop.
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27.The services we provided were extensive, including postage, topping up
mobiles, electric keys, banking services, pensions, child benefit books, giro,
National Savings & Investments and currency.
28.In addition to my wife and myself, we had an employee, {
had worked there when the previous people ran the Post Office. She worked
on an occasional basis on Wednesday mornings and Friday mornings so I
could go to the cash and carry.
29.We would balance every Wednesday when the lottery finished at about
7.30pm. I found it easy to navigate initially as I had worked in retail before, so
I was used to handling money.
30.When Horizon was introduced in 2001, it took a while to get used to, there
were glitches, and some things wouldn’t work properly.
31.1 went to a training session with other Sub-postmasters, in Reading. The
training was in a group setting and it was carried out by Fujitsu. They
demonstrated how to work the screen and the system generally.
32.As Horizon developed there wasn’t any further training as such, we were just
given written manuals with the updates.
33.We were not ever in contact with a regional or line manager, but we could ring
the helpdesk if there was a problem. They were not very helpful.
34. Our problems usually arose on a Wednesday after balancing. This was after
8pm and the helpdesk closed at 9pm. I probably only had around 20 minutes
to call them. My experience was that the staff were not properly trained, and
they seemed to be just reading from a script. They weren’t helpful at all and
couldn’t solve the problems I encountered.
35. Horizon took a lot of getting used to.
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36. Initially I didn’t have any idea what these losses might be attributed to. I would
go to federation meetings and there was nothing mentioned about others
having problems at the meetings. I thought it would be mentioned if other
people were having problems. Other Sub-postmasters didn’t mention it, but I
had heard through the grapevine there were others having some problems.
37. The individuals who interviewed me on behalf of the Post Office and in
connection to the alleged shortfall were Michael J Wilcox of Fraud Strand,
Plymouth, and Graham Brander of Security Operations South.
38. The name of the individual who conducted the audit of my Post Office was
Adam Shaw.
39.My area manager was called Darren Brennan.
40. The names of the agency managers at the Post Office who I was reportable to
were Ms F Watts and Ms Sharon Young.
41.Ms Carol Ballan was the individual who terminated my employment with the
Post Office.
42. The name of my Federation Representative was Nippy Singh. I often tried to
call Mr Singh, but more times than not he would be unavailable on account of
being in India. His ‘stand in’ was Nilesh Joshi and I mostly spoke with him
when I had a query. I found him unhelpful as he would often cancel face-to-
face appointments on the morning of the meeting. I would always call him on
a morning before a meeting before driving to see him in London. His response
was normally that he was too busy that day and asked to rearrange.
43.Nippy Singh attended my first interview with the Post Office where I was being
interviewed by Michael J Wilcox. Mr Singh did not say a word throughout this
interview.
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44. After the termination of my role at the Post Office, I appealed the decision as I
knew I did not take the money. I had an interview with Lin Norbury in the
London Post Office headquarters in relation to the appeal, but this was
subsequently rejected. My appeal was held after the termination of my role
but before the criminal proceedings.
CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS AND ANY PROCEEDINGS/CONVICTION.
45.From almost day one, there were problems with Horizon. There was often a
shortfall.
46. If there was a small shortfall, for example a couple of pounds, I would put the
money in the system or take it out, if the system was over or under. I was made
aware at the start that it was always part of my contract to make good any
shortfalls.
47.When the discrepancies began to get larger, I contacted the helpline.
48. They would take me through the process and tell me the money would turn up
the next week.
49.I remember receiving error notices on the system in 2009 or 2010.
50.I didn’t speak to the managers because it was hard to get through to them.
51.1 didn’t raise the issues with anyone.
52.1 did have a federation representative in Farnham, but every time I called him,
he was out in India. This was very annoying but also meant that I had no
support.
53.When I eventually spoke with him, I met him in Basingstoke and I explained my
problems. He didn’t help however, and nothing happened.
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54.1 then had an unannounced audit on the 26" March 2010, when two auditors
arrived at the Post Office.
55.Due to problems with the system, which I had tried to obtain help with, I was
aware that at this stage the discrepancies were around £16,000.
56.When the auditors arrived, the Post Office was not open yet. They told me not
to open whilst they carried out the audit.
57.When they had finished, they told me I was suspended immediately and took
all the stock and money with them. My engagement was terminated that day.
58. At that point we lost the lottery, the pay station, and the top up cards as well, as
they were all part of the Post Office.
59.On the 11" May 2010, I was interviewed at Newbury sorting office by Michael
Wilcox. A Federation representative, Nippi Singh, was there to supposedly
support me. However in the 7 hours that I was there, he did not say a word.
When I challenged him about this, he said, “well it’s your Post Office” and got
in his car and drove away.
60. The interview was a real grilling. I was asked repeatedly, where the money was.
I kept saying that I hadn’t got it. They asked for bank statements, credit card
statements, and they told me if I didn’t cooperate, they would come and search
my flat.
61.1 had to go to a second interview, and I took all my documentation with me. This
included my bank statements, and my daughter's bank statements. I told them
that was everything I had.
62.Despite having done nothing wrong, I was then charged with theft and false
accounting.
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63.1 was told that I could receive a custodial sentence, so on the advice of my
barrister, I pleaded guilty to false accounting.
64. This was despite the fact that I had done nothing wrong, and I had paid the
shortfall back.
65. My case was first heard at the Oxford Magistrates Court on 15 December 2010.
66. Despite being innocent, as advised, I pleaded guilty to a single count of False
Accounting on 21% July 2011 at the Oxford Crown Court.
67.I was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment suspended for 12 months and
ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
68.1 paid the court costs of £2269.69 and the legal fees of the solicitors and
barristers.
THE HUMAN IMPACT
69. The human impact which the failings of the Horizon IT System have had and
continue to have upon me and my family are set out in the remainder of this
statement. The section headings follow the particular questions posed by the
Inquiry.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING REQUIRED TO MAKE GOOD
APPARENT SHORTFALLS SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
70.As I have said, I repaid the shortfall.
71.1 paid the shortages that arose on a daily basis from with my own pocket.
72.I could not pay the large shortfall discovered on the Audit and I had to borrow
from my brother and my wife's sister.
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73.1 was loathed to do this, but the last thing I wanted was to go to court or
prison.
74.I thought that if I repaid the money, that would be the end of the matter.
75.1 knew that if charges were to follow, the effect on me and my family would be
tremendous.
76. Repaying the shortfall completely wiped us clear of all our savings.
WHAT WERE THE COSTS OF MAKING GOOD ALLEGED SHORTFALLS
SHOWN BY HORIZON?
77.As stated, I paid the shortfalls directly from mine and my wife’s savings. We
did not take out a loan to pay the day-to-day shortfalls, but after the audit
alleged such a large discrepancy, we borrowed money from my wife’s sister
and her family to pay this amount. They did not charge us interest for this
loan.
HOW WERE YOU AFFECTED WHEN ALLEGED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS OR DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
78.I was very scared of the allegations made against me.
79.I had been trying to obtain help.
80.1 tried the helpline.
81.1 tried my local federation representative.
82.No one helped and I felt alone and unsupported.
83.1 was very stressed, anxious and worried and my mental health began to
suffer.
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WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
84.As I have said, in order to avoid a custodial sentence, I pleaded guilty to the
charge of false accounting.
85. This meant that I was suspended from running the Post Office and it had a
massive effect on the family’s finances.
86.1 visited the Post Office offices in Bethnall Green, and I asked as the money
had been repaid, that the Post Office remain in the village . I didn’t want the
village to lose the Post Office. I thought, we had got on well with people and
established ourselves.
87.1 had to carry out my community service and I found being surrounded by
criminals humiliating. I should not have been there, as I had done nothing
wrong.
WHAT WERE YOUR FINANCIAL LOSSES CAUSED BY ACTION TAKEN
AGAINST YOU IN RELIANCE UPON HORIZON DATA?
88.As a direct result of my conviction, the Post Office removed the Sub Post
Office from our shop. As a result I have lost my income as Sub-Postmaster.
89. The National Lottery also precluded us from selling lottery tickets in our shop
for 2 years. The National Lottery generated income from the sale of lottery
tickets, commission on any winnings, and commission dependent on a certain
number of tickets being sold. We lost this income stream when the National
Lottery left our shop, and were unable to reapply for it until 2 years later. We
were able to start selling lottery tickets again after 2 years of being without.
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90. My wife also works full time at the shop, and so her income was affected too.
We were able to rely on income from lottery tickets and my role as Sub-
Postmaster in addition to business profits prior to my conviction. However
afterwards and for 2 years we could only rely on business profits for both my
and my wife’s income. This meant we had to lay off 3 members of staff, which
was hugely upsetting.
WHAT EFFECT DID IT HAVE TO BE ACCUSED OF COMMITTING CRIMINAL
OFFENCES AS A RESULT OF SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN
BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
91.When I was accused of dishonesty. I could not believe that it was happening
to me.
92.My mood was very low, I was anxious and panicky.
93.1 worried who would look after my wife and family if I was in prison.
94.1 knew the impact on my wife and daughters would be massive,
ind I didn’t want her to be stuck without me and I
had 2 young daughters to look after.
96.I could not sleep at night .I could not eat.I felt worthless and hopeless.
97.One time, I went to the local graveyard and contemplated taking my own life.
98.1 felt that there was no point in going on and I considered ways to end my life
99. Thankfully, thoughts of my family pulled me through.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING CONVICTED OF A CRIMINAL
OFFENCE AS A RESULT OF SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY
THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
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100.I heard nothing from the Post Office or my representative body.
101. The conviction left me completely devastated.
102.1 was treated horribly.
103.1 suffered from the stigma of my conviction, and my reputation was in
tatters.
104. It was horrible for my wife and daughters, and I could feel the strain,
105.1 was very concerned for family. I couldn’t let them down and I felt I
needed to be strong.
106.My conviction also very much had an effect on the village.
107.At first, the Post Office closed whilst I was suspended.
108.I felt a duty to the village, as there had been a Post Office in the village for
100 years.
109.1 said I didn’t mind if a third party ran the Post Office, as long as it was kept
open for the village.
110.1 carried on working in the shop, but I was under a lot of pressure. I was
looked at in a funny way by customers and that was humiliating but I had no
option but to carry on.
111. Our landlord ran the garage next door and his wife had always said that she
wanted a village store. The store was named “Peaches Store” and in her
honour we kept the name.
112.We had approached the landlord in 2008 and asked if he would sell the
freehold property to us, and in 2009 we started negotiations.
113.When we lost the Post Office after my conviction, we lost the freehold. The
landlord gave us 3 months’ notice to vacate.
114.The bad publicity had, in his eyes sullied his late wife’s name.
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115.We did not want to leave; we had put everything into the business.
116.We had nowhere else to go.
117. We had a battle with his son. We pleaded with him and eventually he
agreed to let us stay.
118. This only added to the stress and pressure I was under.
119.Although I was able to keep running the store, takings dropped nearly £6000
per week. We lost a lot of trade from the locals and were shunned by local
community completely
120. This had a massive effect on the family’s finances.
121.Our bank, Nat West, closed our account as direct debits started failing. We
were charged £30 each time a direct debit failed.
122.We couldn't pay for stock, VAT bills and so on.
123.We had bailiffs at the door because we couldn’t pay our VAT. I had to again
borrow money from my wife’s sister to pay them.
124. For around 6 months I went to the cash and carry 4 times a day as I had to
use takings from the till.
125. The cost was not just financial, my relationships with my family suffered. I
was very lucky that my wife stayed with me, she could have walked away as
I was going through such a dark phase.
126.We were lucky we didn’t lose the whole business.
127.Following my conviction, I resigned from the position of magistrate at the
local court, as well as my position as a freemason.
128.I lost my position as a respected and valuable member of the community.
129.Although I was really struggling with my mental health, I did not seek
treatment as I was too embarrassed and I feared further humiliation.
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WHAT EFFECT DID THESE ISSUES HAVE UPON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH
YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND LOCAL COMMUNITY?
130. This whole situation has devastated me.
131.Mentally I really struggled with dark thoughts.
132.The situation created a huge amount of tension between my wife and I and
we used to sleep in separate rooms.
133.We pulled together for the sake of our two girls. We said we can’t let them
down.
134.We said if we run away and go somewhere else people will think we're guilty.
135. It was very tough at times, people looked down at us, if I went to the pub
people would make digs at me.
136.One day I thought I cannot do this anymore - I have to do something. One of
my daughters was going to be a Trainee Solicitor and the other a doctor and
because of this, I knew I had to carry on.
137. Four years ago I had major surgery for trigeminal neuralgia. Prior to that, I
was struggling because of severe pain on the right side of my head and face,
and inability to eat. I believe that this was caused or contributed to by the
situation I found myself in.
138.Before my conviction, I was seen as a pillar of society. I was shunned after
my conviction.
139.People came into my shop and laughed at me and asked me embarrassing
and provoking questions.
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140.We had links wit!
who live in the village. When the
media discovered this, they were able to link my conviction to my family’s
relationship with
141.My family and I were also further bullied because we attended the Royal
Wedding in 2011.
142.We very much isolated ourselves from the community and even our
extended family.
143.We had to carry on, but it was very hard.
144.I was treated horribly. It was horrible for my wife and daughters, and I could
feel the strain, I was very concerned for my wife. I couldn’t let them down
and felt I needed to be strong.
145. For a few years, we all completely withdrew from the local community as well
as from our extended family.
146. Due to my conviction, we did not feel able to accept any invites from our
family or the local community. We feared humiliation.
147.To protect ourselves, we isolated ourselves from everyone.
PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT WHICH THESE
ISSUES HAD UPON THE MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY?
148.When it happened, my wife took it badly. She was devasted by my
conviction.
149.In 2007, we bought a house in Leicester so we could move there on
retirement to be nearer to relatives. This was repossessed when we could
not keep up the mortgage payments. This was both embarrassing and also
upsetting as this was for our retirement.
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150.As our case was frequently in the newspapers and in the media, when my
daughter applied for jobs, it came up in the interviews.
151.My younger daughter who was aroun ears old at the time, got
picked on and called racist names on her way to and from school.
152.She was bullied by other children. They would say things along the lines of
“Your dad is a Paki thief” .
153.1 often found her in tears when she returned back from school.
154. People would come into the shop and laugh at me and my wife, and this
obviously upset her. I did my community service at Sue Ryder, and people
would go in there and laugh at me and ask why I was there and ask
awkward questions in front of other staff. They would ask my wife why I was
working there, just to spite her really.
155.We didn’t go out for three years.
156.We were shunned by everyone and it still upsets me to think about the effect
of all of this on my wife and 2 daughters.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
157.The Court of Appeal quashed my conviction on 19" July 2021.
158.For a few seconds I couldn't believe it. I called my wife over and we all burst
into tears.
159.1 didn’t tell anyone my case was going to court, only my wife, my 2 daughters
and my son-in-law knew.
160.1 didn’t believe that it would finally happen until I finally heard it had been
overturned by the Judge.
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161.1 believe the Post Office knew from day 1 there was a problem with the
system.
162.What is sad is that management sat and watched innocent people going to
prison, losing their livelihoods, and losing their loved ones and did nothing.
163. It came down to management, and no one spoke up. Instead they sat on the
whole thing.
164. Although my conviction has now been quashed, nothing can undo what I
have been through or the impact it has had on me and my family.
165. It will stay with me for the rest of my life.
166.1 still suffer from the trauma of what has happened, and it has had a
significant impact on my mental health and emotional wellbeing. It has also
affected my wife’s mental health and when my conviction was quashed, and
it was all in the media again, this brought everything back to her. All the bad
memories and people asking questions again. I am so grateful to her for
standing by me.
167.My mental health problems began when I was accused of dishonesty and
they continue to this day.
168.1 started my treatment on the 25"" November 2021 and until it has been
completed and I recover, the whole thing is still hanging over me.
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Statement Of Truth
I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.
Position Or
Office Held:
Print Full Date of signature: jan 13, 2022
Name: HASMUKH SHINGADIA
FILE REFERENCE:
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