WITNESS: OYETEJU ADEDAYO.
STATEMENT NUMBER: WITNO178_01
EXHIBITS: 0
DATED: Feb 4, 2022
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WITNESS STATEMENT OF OYETEJU ADEDAYO
THIS STATEMENT IS PROVIDED IN RESPONSE TO THE RULE 9 REQUEST OF
THE PUBLIC INQUIRY DATED 29/10/2021 TO ADDRESS THE HUMAN IMPACT
I, MRS OYETEJU ADEDAYO, Date of Birth 1
OF THE FAILINGS OF THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM
GRO
ill say as follows:-
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
1.
I am 57 years old. I currently live with my three children. I got married prior to
taking over the Post Office, however sadly my marriage broke down under the
strain of the Horizon problems. I am not currently in employment.
. When my children were at school, I wanted a job that meant I could work my
hours around my children. My partner suggested going into property
development. I didn’t want to do this and wanted a shop of my own; I could then
have someone to cover me at the shop so I could look after my children and
collect them from school.
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3. We moved down to Kent and took over a shop there. I believe we took over the
business in May 1999. This was a convenience store and an off-licence. The
convenience store also had a post office within it, which I took over as a Sub-
postmaster at a similar time.
4. Initially, we just had the use of the convenience store and off-licence and rented
a property in the area. I can’t remember where this was, but it was separate to
the shop.
5. I then became Sub-postmistress of Rainham Road Post Office branch on 19th
May 1999. The branch was located at 61 Rainham Road, Gillingham, Kent,
ME7 5NG.
6. My contract with the Post Office was subsequently terminated on 5 September
2005.
CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS AND ANY PROCEEDINGS/CONVICTION
7. The audit of my branch took place on 5" September 2005. They presented me
with a piece of paper which stated that I had a shortfall of around £50,000, but
I had no idea where this figure had been obtained from. I was charged with
three offences of False Accounting following the audit.
8. I pleaded guilty to these offences on 19%" January 2006 at Medway County
Court and was later sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to 50 weeks’
imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, a 12-month supervision order and 200
hours of unpaid work.
9. On 15 May 2006, I was also made subject to a confiscation order in the sum
of £52,864.08. The Theft charge was added at the sentencing hearing in the
Crown Court, so that a confiscation order could be made.
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10. The appeal against my conviction was allowed on 14 May 2021.
THE HUMAN IMPACT
11. 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?
12.When the discrepancies were increasing to around £2,000, I took equity out of
our house in Slough in order to pay this into the Post Office.
13. By this time, we knew we were going to stay in Kent. I sought financial advice
and was advised to get rid of our address in Slough and convert the Kent
premises to a freehold, so that we could also purchase the one-bedroom
property above the shop.
14.After around 3-4 months of experiencing smaller discrepancies, larger
discrepancies started appearing. The helpline advised that we just had to
accept these. I would initially be putting the money in myself, but this became
difficult, so I began putting money into the Post Office from the retail side of my
shop. Initially these discrepancies were relatively small but as they became
larger, I could no longer afford to rectify them in this way.
15.We were only a small, one position, Post Office and the discrepancy was getting
larger, to the point that I didn’t know what to do. We were told just to accept it.
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I didn’t put the discrepancies into a suspense account; I was just rolling it over
to the next week.
16. Eventually I was not able to put any more money in, as there was no more
money to put in. When the discrepancies reached more than £20,000, I
believed I needed to speak to someone. I was advised to reboot the system
and was talked through this.
WHAT WERE THE COSTS OF MAKING GOOD ALLEGED SHORTFALLS
SHOWN BY HORIZON?
17.I had to repay the small shortfalls throughout my time at the Post Office and the
sum of the confiscation order which was £52,864.08. I would estimate that the
further shortfalls amounted to about £9,000 over the course of my tenure
HOW WERE YOU AFFECTED WHEN ALLEGED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS OR DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
18.At the audit in September 2005, the Post Office staff had already entered the
branch and packed up a lot of documents. I did not see or know how much
money they took away which should have included money deposited by the
milkmen the Saturday before the Monday audit.
19.I wasn’t allowed in whilst the audit took place and they moved everything out
of the branch. We started arguing outside the Post Office about the difference
in the missing Horizon figures because the balancing on the previous
Wednesday showed around a £41,000 shortfall, and they gave me a
computer printout reading £50,000.
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20.1 was just so perplexed. I wanted them to come into the Post Office and help
me look for the problem, but that didn’t happen. I was absolutely devasted. I
found the whole situation ridiculous.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
21.My contract was terminated.
22.On the day of the audit, the auditors asked me if there was somewhere quiet
that we could speak. By that time people were coming into the shop and we
were beginning to raise our voices.
23.1 remember asking them if I was the only Sub-postmistress going through this.
I was crying at that point, and they said I was the only one and asked if I had
heard about any other cases, to which I responded “no”.
24.I wasn’t charged at the audit; it was sometime after. At the audit they told me I
should come up with a story to explain how the money had gone missing or I
would end up going to prison.
25.1 was told to write down that I admitted taking the money and so I did this,
stating that I had borrowed the money whilst I took out a loan, from which I
then intended to pay back the money.
26. During the interview I told them that I had borrowed the money to pay back
friends and family for money they had lent me; I made this up.
27.1 was just trying to say things to stop them taking me away in a police car.
28. They told me I should get a lawyer. I did get legal advice and my lawyer wrote
to the Post Office asking them to explain the discrepancies.
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29.For some time, we didn’t receive a reply. After this they then made it clear that
this matter was going to be taken to court.
30. After the Post Office branch was closed, I carried on running the shop. I tried
my best to make it work, but I couldn’t.
WHAT WERE YOUR FINANCIAL LOSSES CAUSED BY ACTION TAKEN
AGAINST YOU IN RELIANCE UPON HORIZON DATA?
31.1 attempted to run the shop as a standalone convenience store for
approximately one year following the closure of the Post Office, but I could not
make this viable and fell into debt and mortgage arrears.
32.1 was also losing customers as people were staying away due to the allegations
against me. I believe that this was due to the negative coverage in local and
regional newspapers.
33.On 15 May 2006, I was also made subject to a confiscation order in the sum
of £52,864.08.
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?
34. My case went to the Magistrates Court but I was told, because of the amount
of money I had been accused of taking, the case would be sent to the Crown
Court for sentencing. At that point I nearly collapsed I was crying so much.
35.At the sentencing hearing the Judge asked for the Post Office to give him the
breakdown of the missing money as requested by lawyer, but the Judge did
not get a response to the request.
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36. However, the Judge told me I would not receive a custodial sentence because
I had already started the process of re-mortgaging of our family home to pay
back the £52,000, and because I had three young children to look after. I was
so relieved.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING CONVICTED OF A CRIMINAL
OFFENCE AS A RESULT OF SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY
THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
37.1 did not want to plead guilty but felt that I had no other choice. The Court
case just went over my head due to my frame of mind. The bit I wanted to
hear was that I wasn’t going to prison.
38.I advised the Barrister I wanted to plead not guilty but was advised not to do
so as it would impact the Post Office stance and may mean I had to face a
prison sentence.
39.As explained above, I was sentenced to 50 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended
for 24 months, a 12-month supervision order and 200 hours of unpaid work.
40. After the conviction, I had to go to the probation office, which was on a main
road; I found myself hiding behind pillars so that people passing by did not
recognise me. Again, this was due to the extreme shame and pain that I felt
and knowing that I did not do anything to warrant this.
41.1 completed 200 hours of unpaid work at a charity shop from Monday to
Friday. I would iron and hang up clothes for resale.
42.As a result of my termination and conviction, I lost the value of the business. I
tried to sell the business but was unable to find a buyer. I believe nobody
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wished to buy the business due to the stigma attached to it following my
conviction.
43.Due to my debts and mortgage arrears piling up, the property was
repossessed and auctioned off. All the proceeds of the sale went to the
mortgage lenders.
44. Prior to my conviction, we owned the freehold of the property that housed the
post office and the convenience store.
45. However due to our growing family we then bought Catkin Close which was a
3 bedroomed house including a convenience store. The property was
eventually repossessed as I fell into debt and had to settle the confiscation
order. This was a very traumatic experience for me.
46. Although I managed to avoid bankruptcy, I incurred a substantial amount of
debt running the shops following the termination of my employment with the
Post Office. I was unable to repay these debts because of the reduction in my
income following my termination and the loss of income from renting out the
flat above the shop.
47. Since the termination of my employment, I have been unable to keep regular
work a result of my criminal conviction.
48.Employment agencies have consistently avoided and failed to engage with
me because of the stereotyping and stigma around my criminal conviction.
49. I have had several interviews since, but they all appear to have had issues
when carrying out the CRB/DBS checks. For example, during the interview
process at Sainsbury’s, I was denied a position due to the enhanced DBS
check. In 2019, my daughter rang a potential employer explaining the
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situation around my conviction. After being invited to an interview, I was also
rejected for the position, which I believe was due to the criminal conviction.
50.1 was on the front page of two local newspapers and mentioned on local radio,
which contributed to the psychological symptoms I experienced at the time
and added to the stigma around my business. My mental health was severely
impacted, and I had suicidal thoughts.
WHAT EFFECT DID THESE ISSUES HAVE UPON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH
YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND LOCAL COMMUNITY?
51.My marriage broke down due to the stress of what had happened. The whole
situation affected my confidence. I started to go shopping late in the evening,
so people didn’t see me.
52.1 also stayed in the car when picking up my children from school, so that I
didn’t have to engage with others.
53.As detailed above, my story was also in the local newspapers and the
headlines were also written on the billboards outside of the shop. For
example, “Mum of 3 convicted of stealing £50,000” and, “Mum of 3 spared jail
for theft”. The shops were vandalised because of the negative media
attention. For example, the word ‘thief’ was spray painted on the outside of
the shop walls and shutters.
54.1 was made to feel worthless and had lost my standing in the local community.
55.1 couldn’t even seek help from my friends or relatives because of the stigma of
being called a thief. I was afraid to talk about it because I thought I was the
only one this had happened to, and I thought nobody would believe me.
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PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT WHICH THESE
ISSUES HAD UPON THE MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY?
56.1 have three children who also suffered due to this episode; the three of them
were subjected to bullying and harassment by other children because of the
allegations against me. Seeing my family hurt like this made my own mental
state even worse and it still hurts to think of how they were treated
57.My children’s schoolmates would say nasty comments to them, both online
and in person, such as, “your mum robbed the bank”. My children were
unsupported in school. One was told, “to get it together” and that she, “can’t
use what is going on at home as an excuse to allow her schoolwork to suffer”.
58.As a result of what was going on with me, my eldest daughter was finding it
hard to adjust to school which negatively impacted her behaviour there. She
was constantly put in detention, isolated from her peers, and made to feel that
she was a troublemaker.
59. Also, since one of the shops was located opposite one of my other children’s
secondary schools, the teachers there would pick on her and failed to provide
her with adequate support. To avoid playground bullying, my youngest child
was moved to another primary school but was unsupported there too.
60. The lack of financial stability really impacted my aspirations of helping and
supporting my children’s university education. For example, during their
university education, they had considered doing international student
exchange and work internships abroad, however they decided against this
because they knew that I would not be able to visit them or support them
financially because of my criminal record.
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CONCLUDING REMARKS
61.As a result of my conviction, I experienced a lot of stress, depression, anger
and emotional instability. I lost a lot of weight and became a recluse to the
extent that my doctor put me on a prescribed Vitamin D tablets; I suffered
from anxiety and a general loss of confidence. I continually questioned my
sanity and considered suicide.
62. The GLO litigation was an eye opener during 2016 — 2019; the amazing
judgments from The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser. The reality of the Post
Office’s behaviour over the years unfolded during the trials and this was
extremely traumatic to me and all of the other Sub-postmasters/mistresses.
63. The litigation costs must be recovered from the Post Office to enable
everyone to move forward finally.
64.In May 2021, my conviction was overturned in the Southwark Crown Court.
Although this was a relief, I am still suffering mentally.
65. I am struggling to adjust to a “new normal” where I have no criminal record.
66.1 feel that the Post Office’s aggressive behaviour has had an ongoing impact
on my life.
67.All I have ever known in the last 16 years is my life with a conviction and the
stigma and shame that comes with that. I firmly believe that my family and I
will need substantial therapy, counselling and emotional support to overcome
this traumatic period of our lives and to be able to move forward in a healthy
manner.
68.A good 16 of my prime years have been cruelly, tragically and unjustly taken
from me. Shortly after my conviction, my Dad suffered a heart attack having
seen his daughter go from a bubbly character to a recluse. No doubt there
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was the same toll on my Mum’s health. She suffered a stroke last year only to
discover that she had suffered previous silent ones before; she sadly passed
away last month. I thank God above all that my Mum was able to see my
conviction overturned before her glorious call to Heaven.
Statement Of Truth
I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.
Signed: Position Or
Office Held:
Print Full Date of signature: Feb 4, 2022
Name: MRS OYETEJU ADEDAYO
FILE REFERENCE
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