WITNO1800100
WITNESS: PAULINE STONEHOUSE
STATEMENT NUMBER: WITNO180_01
EXHIBITS: 0
DATED: Jan 13, 2022
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WRITTEN STATEMENT OF PAULINE STONEHOUSE
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, MRS PAULINE STONEHOUSE, Date of Birth’ GRO
GRO i will say as follows:-
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
1. I live with my husband and my youngest daughter. I have two daughters and
one granddaughter.
2. I.am not currently working.
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POST OFFICE HISTORY
3. I was appointed as Sub-Postmistress of Seaburn Post Office on 18"" November
2004. I had previously worked for various Post Offices as a Post Office
Assistant for 16 years prior to my appointment as Sub-Postmistress.
4. I became interested in running my own Post Office as I wanted a change of
direction and the challenge of running my own business. I purchased the Post
Office business for about £80,000. We rented the premises for about £15,000
per year. Our home was located elsewhere, separate to the business. The Post
Office had a retail store attached to it. Within the retail store was a newsagents
and off-licence.
5. My employment was terminated on or around 1% June 2007.
CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS AND ANY PROCEEDINGS/CONVICTION
6. An Audit was carried out at my Post Office on 1%t June 2007. The Post Office
Counter side was closed until a temporary Sub-postmaster was brought in.
7. I was suspended on 31st May 2007, and afterwards my contract was terminated.
8. I was then formally charged with False Accounting at the end of my interview,
and later on 7" July 2008, at Newcastle Crown Court, I pleaded guilty to six
counts of false accounting.
9. On 1st August 2008, at Newcastle Crown Court, I was sentenced to a 6-month
community order with a supervision requirement. There was no order for costs,
compensation, or confiscation because I had been made bankrupt by this time.
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THE HUMAN IMPACT
10. 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?
11.As a result of experiencing shortfalls, I called the Helpline numerous times; they
just told me the system would correct itself, not to worry, and to deal with it at
the end of the month. We did that, and eventually a trainer from the Post Office
came out to check that I had followed procedure. They concluded that I wasn’t
doing anything wrong.
12.I then reached a point where I became unable to repay the shortfalls. Whilst my
retail shop was doing well, I was not making enough to cover the alleged losses
from the Post Office.
13.1 was not able to pay back the main shortfall after the Audit, and the Post Office
was aware of that.
14.On 29 May 2007, I saw and spoke to a Post Office business manager at a
Network Change Event. I was upset, and I disclosed my struggles with aspects
of running my post office. I broke down and said I could not cope anymore. I
told the business manager I was losing thousands of pounds and was already
repaying two large losses monthly from my salary.
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15.1 explained I had lost about £3,500 in the last five or six weeks and could not
afford to make the losses good and, if I was audited, I knew I would be in trouble
as the money was not there.
16.On 31 May 2007, I spoke to a Post Office Business Development Manager. I
told them that the losses totalled around £9,000 prior to the last trading period,
and there had been a further £3,164.37 loss in the last period. I acknowledged
that there should have been approximately a £12,500 shortage at the end of
that period and the true figure on the system now was £14,538.12.
17. The following day, the Audit was conducted and a total shortage of £15,699.16
was identified. After the Audit, I didn’t repay any further shortfalls. I had to
declare bankruptcy before my conviction.
WHAT WERE THE COSTS OF MAKING GOOD ALLEGED SHORTFALLS SHOWN
BY HORIZON?
18.Approximately 6 or 7 months prior to the Audit and Interview, I had been
repaying the shortfalls out of my wages. This involved occasionally paying a
couple of hundred pounds. At the time the amounts were not overly concerning
but when the amounts added up, the significance of the shortfalls became clear.
19. I can’t recall the precise amount I paid in total. I had entered an arrangement
with the Post Office where I agreed to pay the shortfalls off by paying them out
of my wages.
20.As outlined above, there were approximately £3,500 of losses in a five-to-six-
week period at one point.
21.Repaying the shortfalls made us tighten our belts a bit more, as my Post Office
wage was less. We had to cut back on buying stock as we couldn’t afford to
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buy as much by the time we had paid rent to the landlord, and this influenced
the shop takings.
22.When thetotal shortfall of £15,699.16 was found, as previously mentioned, I
had to declare bankruptcy. I lost my home as a result of this.
23.When we relocated, I had to ask family members for financial help. My father
bought us carpets and flooring and a fridge for our house, and my husband’s
father also helped us out financially.
24.As a result of our loss of the Post Office, my husband had to take a job as
trainee bus driver however our income was significantly reduced with only one
wage coming in.
HOW WERE YOU AFFECTED WHEN ALLEGED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS OR DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
25.When my Post Office was closed, I was absolutely blindsided. I had customers
asking why it had been closed, and I had to explain something was wrong, and
why there had been a temporary sub-postmaster brought in.
26. It was a serious knock to my self-esteem. It ended up getting me down.
I believe at that time my insomnia kicked in and I suffered from lack of sleep.
My eczema flared up. I was so stressed out; I didn’t know if I was coming or
going.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
27.1 was interviewed on 7" June 2007. The Interviewers asked me numerous
questions including: where the money had gone; if I had stolen it; and if I hadn’t
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taken it, then where could it have gone.. They suggested that my husband had
taken the money to put into the shop till; I assured them this wasn’t the case
28.1 was subsequently told I would be suspended until the investigation finished,
and my contract was then terminated on a later date.
Whilst the Post Office was closed, we tried to keep the shop going as we could,
but we had no choice but to close it down in October when I had to declare
bankruptcy.
WHAT WERE YOUR FINANCIAL LOSSES CAUSED BY ACTION TAKEN AGAINST
YOU IN RELIANCE UPON HORIZON DATA?
29.My family has experienced a loss of income because of having only one wage
coming into the household.
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
30. Once I was charged, I just thought what on earth is going to happen now. I was
wondering if I would end up in prison. Mentally, I didn’t know what to do with
myself. I lived in fear of the unknown. It was a horrendous experience.
31.We didn’t live that close to the Post Office, so our neighbours weren’t our
customers. If I bumped into t people in the town centre, most told me they had
faith in me. I did get a few sly looks from people who were originally nice
customers, and they didn’t speak to me.
32.1 remember when I went to court my story was in the Sunderland and Northern
Chronicle, which was not nice.
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WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING CONVICTED OF A CRIMINAL
OFFENCE AS A RESULT OF SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY
THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
33.On 1st August 2008, at Newcastle Crown Court, I was sentenced to a 6-month
community order with a supervision requirement.
34.As part of my Community Order, I had to go to the Probation Office in Hendon,
Sunderland. To begin with I had to go once a week and then it tapered off to
once a fortnight and eventually once a month.
35. It was horrible; I had to sit in a waiting room with drug addicts people who had
committed crimes. Even the probation offices that I saw found it laughable that
I was there. They asked me what on earth I was doing there.
36.We had to declare bankruptcy before my conviction in October 2007. We lost
our home because of this. Luckily the Judge gave an order that we couldn’t be
turned out of our home immediately because we had small children.
37.We were put on a homeless list. Initially we were offered an awful place to live,
and then we were offered another house where we stayed for a couple of years.
There was police presence in the area. At one point someone was outside our
door with a knife, so we had police and police dogs outside our house. There
were needles in our front garden. It was awful.
38.Eventually we bought the house where we are now living. We have suffered
with ongoing financial distress. My husband, RQ / got a job within two weeks
as a trainee bus driver but our income was a lot less with only his wage coming
in. We couldn’t get credit with anyone. We were effectively living hand to mouth.
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WHAT EFFECT DID THESE ISSUES HAVE UPON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH
YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND LOCAL COMMUNITY?
39.After my conviction, I don’t think I went out as much. I shied away from the
Public hoping I wouldn’t see anyone I knew, in case they had heard about my
situation or seen my face in the paper.
40.In general, my friends were fine with me; they never had an issue and they
believed in me.
41.My husband and I have always had a good relationship but, with the worry and
stress that the conviction and my bankruptcy caused, it wasn’t plain sailing
between us. There were occasions when there were raised voices.
PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT WHICH THESE
ISSUES HAD UPON THE MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY?
42.My children were very small at the time; my eldest daughter was about 9 and
my youngest daughter about 2. My eldest daughter lost her friends as we had
to move because of the bankruptcy. She had to move schools. She was always
shy and anxious and not very confident, and she had to start all over again with
new friends and a new school.
43.1 think it did affect my husband. He’s a quiet man and will only give his opinion
if it is needed. He bottles everything up and whilst, I think he kept it to himself,
it really did knock him for six. My husband was upset for me, and the impact he
knew it was having on me, but he tried not to show it, to avoid worrying me.
44.As mentioned above, various members of our family helped us financially after
I had been convicted.
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CONCLUDING REMARKS
45. My conviction was recently overturned on 22"¢ November 2021, and now I have
come back from court, I feel that it is a bit anticlimatic.
Bizarrely, I once again have ended up being in the Press. The morning after my
conviction was overturned, I ended up on the front page of the Northern Echo,
and in the Daily Mail. I was also interviewed on the local news. I did get a bit
tearful on occasions, as it has brought the whole situation back up for me. It
has made me have to relive everything, which is very upsetting.
I will never forget the trauma it caused me and my family, and the financial
impact it had on us.
Statement Of Truth
I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.
Signed: Position Or
Pa Sconehouse Gan aon isaeNT Office Held:
Print Full Date of signature: jan 13, 2022
Name: PAULINE STONEHOUSE
FILE REFERENCE:
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