WITNO1860100
WITNESS: TIMOTHY BRENTNALL
STATEMENT NUMBER: WITNO186_01
EXHIBITS: 0
DATED: Jan 11, 2022
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WRITTEN STATEMENT OF MR TIMOTHY BRENTNALL
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 TIMOTHY BRENTNALL, Date of Birth:
GRO i will say as follows:-
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
1.1 was born in 1981 in Ashford, Kent.
2.My family moved from Kent to Roch in Pembrokeshire when I was aged 3 and
we lived in a farmhouse owned by my family. Following school and college I
initially worked on local farms and for a security company. This work took me
away from home a lot however and involved considerable travel. It was for
these reasons that I decided to join my parents in the family business and
bought the shop and post office along with my parents.
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3.1 got married in 2013 after a relationship of a few years with my ex-wife and we
have a daughter together called’ GR O Iwho is aged 8, however my wife and I
separated in 2014.
POST OFFICE HISTORY
4.I took up the local village shop along with the post office and a fish and chip
ship in Roch, Pembrokeshire with my parents in 2005. They were all
established businesses when we bought them together.
5. Initially I had a temporary sub-postmaster to assist me until I was approved by
the post office. I had 4 days on site training when I took up the role of Sub-
postmaster in late 2005. I never received any further training after this.
6.In late 2005 I noticed small shortfalls initially in the Horizon accountancy
system for the post office which had shown up as transaction corrections. I
rang the helpline and requested assistance. I was told to balance the sheet and
no further explanation was given.
7.My area manager was called Colin Burstam.
8.In 2008 there seemed to be a big jump in shortfalls and transaction corrections,
it was at this point I was told it was down to me to balance and make good.
Then the shortfall doubled to £22,500. At this point having being told it was my
responsibility, I tried to hide the shortfall and pay it back as quickly as I could,
with the intention of once it was cleared approaching the Post Office and
asking them to check where and who the money actually belonged. In my mind
if I admitted I couldn't pay the shortfall I would be accused of theft.
9.By the time I was audited in 2009 I had reduced the shortfall to some £16,500
by putting my own money into the post office, when the auditors came, I was
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very open and honest with them about what had been happening because I
thought they were there to help. I quickly realised that they were there not to
help me but to blame me.
10.1 recall the auditor’s name being Gaynor Davies, who had another man with
her but I cannot remember his name.
11. This was promptly followed by a visit from an investigating team. This was a
man called Mike Wilcox. Another lady was with him but I do not remember her
name. Whilst at first I thought they were there to help me and correct the fault,
it soon transpired they were auditors to try and collect evidence against me. I
remember Mike Wilcox telling me it was an informal chat and I asked if I would
need a solicitor and he said no.
12.I remember being told that I was the only sub-postmaster having these kinds
of issues.
13.1 was suspended by the Post Office on 5'" November 2009 and my
employment was terminated on 4" December 2009. I remember appealing my
termination. My appeal was heard on 12" February 2010 by Angela Van Den
Bogerd. My appeal was dismissed and my employment was terminated on 19"
February 2010.
14.From what I can recall, up until that point, I hadn’t been charged with anything
so I thought the situation could be rectified.
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS AND CONVICTION
15.1 cannot remember exactly when I received summons. The trouble is I had
kept a lot of this documentation but after the first mediation failed I threw a lot of
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things away. I do remember receiving the summons in the post, and I then
instructed a solicitor.
16.1 first attended Haverfordwest Magistrates Court in around early 2010 and
then I believe I went to Carmarthen Crown Court which is where I pleaded
guilty on 10 June 2010.
17.1 pleaded guilty on the advice of my barrister who was from a chambers in
Swansea and was called Chris. I cannot recall his surname. I took all of my
papers and at this stage I was determined not to plead guilty. Chris said he
could not make a coherent argument out of the paperwork given by the Post
Office. He said the jury would believe the Post Office and his advice to me was
to plead guilty to avoid a potential custodial sentence.
18.1 pleaded guilty to false accounting as the Post Office dropped the theft
charge.
19.On 29/06/2010 I was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court to 20 weeks
imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 200 hours of
unpaid work.
20.My conviction was overturned on 23 April 2021.
THE HUMAN IMPACT
21.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.
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WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING REQUIRED TO MAKE GOOD
APPARENT SHORTFALLS SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
22.I had already put in some £6,000 of my own money, the subsequent shortfall
on audit was paid back in full (£16,500) because I was told “off the record” by
my manager Colin Burston that if the money wasn’t paid back I would be “done
for theft”.
23.1 had to borrow this money from my parents and that sum of money has only
been paid back to my parents following the interim compensation payment this
year.
WHAT WERE THE COSTS OF MAKING GOOD ALLEGED SHORTFALLS
SHOWN BY HORIZON?
24. Before the larger shortfall I had a smaller audit as I had a transaction
correction where I had paid back the initial £6,000 with help from my parents
and also with shop takings. Gaynor Davies also did this audit and she
reiterated that I should pay or it would be taken from wages.
25.When the larger transaction correction came through totalling about £22,500 I
did not contact anyone because of what Gaynor had said to me at the initial
audit. I naively thought I should pay and then afterwards could contact the Post
Office to figure out what had happened.
26.What really happened was that I paid back an amount myself, and my parents
paid back a further £16,500. We paid back the full amount before my trial.
27.1 had to sell my car at the time to try and pay my parents back quickly, which
was a mint condition rare Subaru rally car with low mileage. I bought it for
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£5,000 and sold it for £5,000. I later found out that it is now worth between
£40,000 and £50,000.
HOW WERE YOU AFFECTED WHEN ALLEGED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS OR DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
28.As the problems grew with the so-called balance discrepancies, my mental
health deteriorated, I struggled with sleep and started suffering with anxiety.
29.My relationships with my wife, daughter as well as with friends started to
become strained.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR
SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
30.As a result of the Post Office’s investigation, I was charged with fraud by false
accounting.
31.1 wanted to plead not guilty but following the advice of my barrister, to avoid a
custodial sentence, I ended up pleading guilty to false accounting. As detailed
above, this led to a conviction by the Crown Court and of 20 weeks
imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and I was ordered to carry out 200
hours of unpaid work.
32.1 also had to pay court costs of £1,000.00.
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WHAT WERE YOUR FINANCIAL LOSSES CAUSED BY ACTION TAKEN
AGAINST YOU IN RELIANCE UPON HORIZON DATA?
33. After my conviction the Post Office put a temporary Sub-postmaster in place
for a couple of years. She then resigned and my mother was approached to
take the position. The shop and Post Office are still running.
34.When I ran the shop I built the shop turnover up significantly, on top of my
Post Office wage. I ran the Post Office 6 days a week, but the Post Office
prevented my mother from running the Post Office for more than 12 hours a
week. This had a direct effect on footfall in the shop which has significantly
reduced. The turnover significantly reduced. I couldn’t diversify as I wished to
as a result of my conviction.
35.The business had been very successful and I believe the turnover was around
£350,000 to £380,000 per year throughout 2006 to 2009. The turnover fell to
around £130,000 after my conviction.
36.1 paid £1,000 back to the Post Office in legal costs after my trial. The Post
Office asked for around £30,000 but my barrister argued it should be reduced.
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?
37.The whole process was extremely daunting and distressing. I also felt that I
had been tricked in to giving an interview by the investigator initially without a
solicitor present.
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38.1 remember the judge told me it was a case of “lazy accounting” and a young
man’s pride of not wanting to shout for help. It was very frustrating that I did not
have the opportunity to make clear that I did ask for help.
WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING CONVICTED OF A CRIMINAL
OFFENCE AS A RESULT OF SHORTFALLS AND DISCREPANCIES SHOWN BY
THE HORIZON IT SYSTEM?
39.The conviction had a huge impact on me and my mental health really
suffered.
40.1 did not sleep properly for a years following the conviction. On occasions I
would get a few hours sleep and then wake up in the early hours of the
morning not able to go back to sleep.
41.1 withdrew from social situations and avoided socialising with friends such as
going to the pub.
42.1 also suffered from anxiety to the extent that I avoided telephone calls and
avoided opening mail. I would get very anxious about small worries such as
whether I had locked the front door or turned the oven off.
43.For my unpaid work, I did 200 hours of community service in a charity called
Mind. During this time, I would lie awake in bed in the early hours of the
morning worrying about my financial situation and not being able to provide for
my family or secure a future for my daughter.
44. After the unpaid work with Mind I volunteered for a number of months, and
was then offered a paid role of 16 hours per week.
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45. During this time my earnings reduced from around £16,000.00 per year to
around £6,000.00. Due to having a conviction, I could not consider taking up
another job or travelling.
46.I worked for Mind until 2017 when my partner was diagnosed with cancer,
following complications with her surgery I am now her full time carer.
47.I battled for 11 years to prove my innocence which has taken a considerable
toll on my mental health. Before this ordeal, I had planned to run the Post
Office branch until my retirement.
48.When my conviction was eventually quashed it was like an enormous
outpouring of emotion and I slept for three days.
WHAT EFFECT DID THESE ISSUES HAVE UPON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH
YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND LOCAL COMMUNITY?
49.As detailed above, I separated from my wife in 2014 and I believe this was
due to the difficulties around the court case and the issues it had on my mental
health. My ex-wife described me as withdrawn and distant and that caused
conflict and distress in our relationship. This has also impacted my relationship
with my daughter who I now only see every other weekend and in school
holidays.
50.A great strain was put on the relationship with my parents, although they lent
me the money to cover the shortfall, it is only now following the JFSA group
action and the trials that we have been able to begin to rebuild the relationship
and the trust that the Post Office destroyed.
51.1 lost many friends over this because lots of people wouldn't believe that I
hadn't done anything because they didn't understand that I was only persuaded
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to plead guilty to try and avoid an immediate custodial sentence. Many people
spread rumours or gossiped or directly accused me of theft and trying to ruin
the village post office.
52.We had very elderly population in Roch and the Post Office was the hub of
the community. Following my conviction, I lost my position in society. Prior to
my conviction, elderly people would frequently come to the shop asking for my
advice around their issues or problems. Following the conviction however,
people in the local community did not trust me and I lost contact with friends
and customers.
PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT WHICH THESE
ISSUES HAD UPON THE MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY?
53.As explained above my marriage broke down as a result of the pressure of
the whole ordeal.
54.I have never been able to take my daughter on holiday and not been able to
secure my daughter’s longer term financial future.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
55.1 continue to feel very angry and distressed at what I have been put through. I
feel that I have lost the last few years of my life as well as losing my business.
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Statement Of Truth
I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.
Position Or
Office Held:
Timm Brentnall Vani, 055 18:16 Gini}
Print Full Date of signature: Jan 11, 2022
Name: TIMOTHY BRENTNALL
FILE REFERENCE:
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