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Witness Name: Ms Teresa-Marie Lean
Statement No: WITNO266_01
Exhibits: none
Dated: 20 January 2022
THE POST OFFICE HORIZON INQUIRY
WITNESS STATEMENT OF MS TERESA-MARIE LEAN
1, MS TERESA-MARIE LEAN WILL SAY as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1. I am grateful to the Chair to be invited to provide a “human impact” statement,
concerning the physical, psychological, emotional, reputational and_ financial
consequences to me and my family of being held responsible for shortfalls shown by
the Horizon IT system and Post Office Limited’s actions toward me and my family. The
initial paragraphs below provide a brief summary of my background, and provide
context to the detail of the human impact of the Horizon scandal on me and my family.
This statement does not reflect a full account of my experiences or those of my family
and if necessary or required I will provide further witness statement evidence.
BACKGROUND
2. 1am now 54 years old. I have three children. I am a Consultant Nurse and Associate
Director of Nursing for Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust. I was
also previously a Special Constable.
3, Prior to the problems I experienced with Post Office Ltd, I was a happy, outgoing,
positive person, with a retail background built on completion of a graduate
management scheme with McDonald’s restaurants.
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My three children were raised in the village in which I had my post office, and attended
the local school across the road from the post office. My former partner was also my
business partner and he ran the news agency side of the business.
Previously, I had had a very successful career in hairdressing, as an Artistic Director.
Once I had my children. I gave up hairdressing, and did some part-time care work. This
led to me applying to become a student nurse. As part of this process, I had to
complete a college course. I chose to do a GCSE in child psychology, and it was my
tutor who encouraged me to go on to do a psychology degree. On completion of this
degree, I secured a graduate business management position with McDonald’s
restaurants.
I then went on to work for Shell UK, and Granada hospitality as a dual site manager. I
was very successful in my career; and the next logical step was for me to move into
area management.
It was a chance conversation with the previous postmaster about purchasing the
business which led to serious consideration about becoming a subpostmaster.
I went into our village post office to use its services and the subpostmaster told me he
was selling the post office and asked if I would be interested in buying the post office.
At that time, I was working in central Manchester and worked very long hours. I
thought that purchasing the post office business would give me more time with my
family, specifically my children, whilst allowing me to build and extend the business,
giving myself and my family future financial security. I therefore applied to the Post
Office to be appointed as the subpostmistress of our village post office.
I was a Subpostmistress of the Post Office at 129 Church Lane, Charnock Richard,
Chorley, Lancashire PR7 5NA from around 1 June 2001 to 5 May 2005. t lived in on the
premises, which I extensively developed.
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12. We operated a retail business from the premises, known as Charnock Richard Village
Store, which included a news agency, off licence, DVD hire and sold general groceries.
I employed two assistants, one in the shop, and one in the Post Office. My children
also helped out in the shop.
13. During 2003, I requested that the Post Office reduce the opening hours of my post
office, as the business did not warrant being open 34.5 hours per week. Post Office
would not agree to this. Following a long and protracted negotiation in which I had
requested my proposal be passed to the next manager up the chain, the Post Office
would not alter their position. Finally I was offered a reduced hour's contract for the
same remuneration by a female manager who was covering for someone on holiday.
Naturally, I accepted this, signed the forms, and returned them to Post Office. When
the manager in charge returned from holiday, they objected to this agreement. Having
sought advice from a solicitor, I insisted that the agreement was binding. Finally, Post
Office had no choice other than to honour the reduced hours contract, but very
unhappy about it.
Training and Support
14. A female trainer spent 8 or 9 days with me during my first 2 weeks in post. She talked
me through the various transactions as and when the customers’ requirements arose.
The Post Office trainer covered balancing during the first week and she completed a
balance and I observed. We planned that the following week I would carry out the
balance with the trainer observing me, however, she couldn't stay during the second
week, so I had to complete the balance on my own.
15. I When I conducted this first balance on my own it was approximately £21.75 down. I
looked into it, and identified that the issue was in connection with my own family
allowance transaction and noted that the problem arose because I had forgotten to
put the docket in the box, which resulted in the system showing a shortfall on Horizon.
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16. _ 1 was told by the trainer who came back the next day that I would have to repay the
shortfall myself, even though there wasn't actually any loss incurred by Post Office.
17. My impression of the training was that it was very much a ‘work it out as you go along’
Process. It was very daunting in the beginning and the system seemed very antiquated
and temperamental.
Helpline
18. I estimate that I contacted the Helpline 2-3 times per week with regard to problems
relating to alleged shortfalls and /or balancing.
19. In or around May 2005, I rang the Helpline to report a £500 deficit upon balancing that
ultimately led to my contract being terminated.
20. I found the advice to be less than helpful, as I was told by the Helpline staff to 'put it
in the suspense account’. This did not identify or help me to rectify the problem and
then an auditor was sent out the following day, who identified a £2,000 deficit which
later rose to £10,000 and finally to over £35,000 when the Post Office pursued civil
action against me.
21, The area manager Mr Galvin came to see me, he was very apologetic although he
could not give me any explanations either as to why the anomalies with Horizon had
occurred. As a result, of my experience, I found Post Office Limited to be bullies who
liked to ride rough shod over people. It was not a pleasant working relationship.
SHORTFALLS
22. In this section, I set out in very brief detail my experience of shortfalls arising from
deficiencies in the Horizon IT System, and Post Office Limited’s actions asa result. This
is only a brief introduction to those matters, in order to provide necessary context for
the explanation of the human impact which follows.
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23. I would estimate that throughout my position in the branch, I paid (or Post Office
deducted) around £20,000 in respect of shortfalls.
24. There were numerous shortfalls under £100 for various sums between £5 and £50
totalling around £400-£500 on various dates. I repaid these shortfalls using money
from the retail side of the business. The Helpline were notified but not always for small
discrepancies. I paid the shortfall to balance the accounts.
25. A £500 shortfall occurred which I reported. This led to an audit, which I describe
below.
Audit and investigation
26. I believe that there were two audits.
27. On the occasion of the first audit, I remember that Horizon balanced to the penny.
There were no significant issues raised by the auditors.
28. The second and final Audit occurred in around May 2005. A £500 discrepancy arose,
which I reported to the Post Office. There was an audit after !I reported this,
29. One auditor arrived at the branch. I was not present for the audit. I was in the property
but not given any opportunity to witness the audit or be involved in any way.
30. I was not concerned at the time, as I had already reported the £500 discrepancy to the
Helpline and did not have any worries that anything else would be wrong.
31. I was therefore horrified when the auditor told me there was a £2,000 discrepancy.
32. Over the course of the following months and years, the initial shortfall of £2,000 rose
to £10,000 and finally to over £35,000 as the Post Office pursued me for payment.
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33. In letters that the Post Office sent me while pursing me for payment of this supposed
shortfall, the Post Office inflated the figure, to included legal fees; and the sum finally
rose to £35,000.
34. At the time of the audit, I rang the Area Manger immediately for help. Unbeknown to
me was already on his way to my post office to suspend my contract. I was not given
any opportunity to be involved in any discussion around solving what might have been
the problem.
35. In my certain view the Post Office never conducted any adequate investigation. The
Post Office officials just seemed to ignore me and just told me that I had to pay. I was
told I had to repay the deficits without any explanation.
36. Over time, the Post Office increased the sum they said was due to them.
37. As I have said this increased from £500, to £2,000 to £10,000 to £35,000. The Post
Office told me in correspondence that if I did not pay up the sum would keep
increasing. I was terrified that I would jose everything. This went on for over 5 years
before I finally agreed, under pressure, a settlement and paid the Post Office £17,500.
Suspension and Termination
38. I was suspended in May 2005. My contract was suspended due to the alleged
shortfalls.
39. The branch remained open and a temporary subpostmaster was appointed by me. I
arranged this myself with a neighbouring subpostmistress called Lisa (surname
unknown) who ran a branch in Eccleston, and she took over together with another
member of her staff. I was told I could not have anything to do with the business.
40. The Post Office took all the records from the branch away with them. They carried out
the suspension in a very threatening and hostile manner without any support in terms
of solving the problem.
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41. I resigned soon after my suspension. The Post Office refused to listen or take on board
what I had said, so I was terrified of being sacked even though I knew I had not done
anything wrong.
42. I thought that I was the only subpostmaster that this was happening to. I felt I had no
option but to resign, and I was really worried about my livelihood and reputation.
43. The loss of the branch had an impact on the rest of the business and ultimately it
declined. I was not able to sell or transfer my business. I offered it to the owner of the
other shop in the village, but he did not see it as a viable business.
44, My other businesses suffered and, as a consequence, and I lost everything. I sold the
property in 2013 for £265,000. It went on the market originally for £399,000.
45. Years later, it crossed my mind whether the Post Office had perhaps engineered the
closure of the branch to avoid paying me compensation for it closing under the
Network Transformation Scheme.
Civil and Criminal Proceedings
46. The Post Office pursued civil proceedings against me for recovery of the alleged
shortfalls. Although legal proceedings were not issued, they made repeated formal
demands with threats.
47. Ultimately, I had to settle with Post Office and pay out before it got to court, as they
told me that if I didn't settle with them that the amount owed would continue to rise.
48. 1 settled out of Court with the Post Office, under duress. They demanded £35,000 and
in the end, they told me they would settle for £17,500, otherwise they said that the
sum would just keep increasing. I also incurred £5,000 of legal fees.
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Losses
49. ! paid the Post Office around £20,000 in relation to supposed shortfalls. The Post
Office told me that I had no alternative but to pay the shortfalls and pursued me for
payment of shortfalls, which were clearly not my responsivity, but caused by the
Horizon System.
50. I lost value in the business (Post Office and retail shop) but am unable to quantify this
without expert valuation evidence. I purchased the residential property for around
£175,000, with a business loan and savings from a previous property.
51. I paid £50,000 for the Post Office business. I also paid for the purchase of stock,
newspaper bills that had not yet been paid. I paid for the conversion of the residential
property to business premises and refurbishment of them, which cost approximately
£20,000 for shop fit out and associated works. After the business declined, I converted
the branch and retail shop back to residential premises, and spent a further £5,000 on
works before it was finally sold in 2013.
52. My contract was suspended and I resigned after a couple of months and closed the
office. Loss of earnings during suspension: £1000 per month.
53. If it were not for the events that occurred, my plans in my role were to continue with
the business until I received compensation for its closure under the Network
Transformation Scheme. Alternatively, if the post office remained open I would have
continued to run it until my retirement
54. l incurred legal fees of around £5,000 in regard of the civil claim, which Post Office
pursued against me.
55. I also suffered serious reputational damage and health issues as a result of the Post
Office action against me, which I detail in the human impact section of this statement.
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HUMAN IMPACT
56. As I have said, I suffered serious problems with shortfalls at my Post Office. When
shortfalls arose, I reported them to the Post Office seeking help from the Helpline.
57. I reported a £500 deficit in the balance. The Post Office conducted an audit which
allegedly revealed a shortfall of approximately £2,000. This later rose to £35,000
during the course of the Post Office’s civil action against me. I was provided with no
explanation of the audit process or how these figures were arrived at.
58. I was investigated, suspended and pursued by the Post Office. I was ostracised in my
local community, my relationship broke down, I had to change career and move out
of area.
59. 1 lost my business, income, property and future.
60, I was party to the mediation scheme and received £23,000. I was also party to the
group litigation; as such, I am excluded from the Historic Shortfall Scheme. I have been
denied the ability to obtain compensation anywhere near the financial and other
harms I suffered.
61. I lived in a small village, in which I had bought my children up in. I could not tell my
children what had happened, because I was ashamed, as it was impossible to explain
to them what had happened in a way that they could understand.
62. I could not explain what was happening even to myself. I lived in constant fear that I
would go to Prison. It was rumoured in the village that I had been 'sacked’.
63. The Post Office action against me had a huge detrimental effect on my well-being and
mental health, my relationships, my reputation in the small village that I lived in, and
caused considerable stress to my parents, who loaned me the money to pay Post
Office Limited, with absolutely no proof that I owed the monies.
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Host my livelihood, and had to move area and return to University to retrain. I could
not face applying for a job, as I was terrified I would be given a bad reference or that
another employer would think I was a thief.
For example, I recall going to a neighbouring post office in Coppull, with my mum.
There were two elderly women from my village in the queue, I offered them a lift
home. When they got in the car, they asked me 'why have you been suspended by the
post office?’.
I was horrified by their question, and tried to deny it. The two women told me the
subpostmaster at Coppull had told them that I had been suspended.
I reported this to the Post Office area manager who denied that the Post Office had
told the Coppull subpostmaster of the actions taken against me. I did not believe the
Area Manager, as there was no other way that the Coppull subpostmaster could have
got this information, except from the Post Office.
I subsequently moved out of the village I had lived in and bought my family up in for
22 years, and moved 20 miles away. I felt forced to move as a result of what had
happened.
I suffered a huge dip in mental health, I could not sleep, I could not eat, and I suffered
with depression. My relationship of 15 years broke down, due to constant arguing
trying to ascertain what had happened. As I have said, the discrepancy that I reported
to the Post Office started at £500, and subsequently went up to £2,000 and later rose
to £35,000.
I was questioning my partner as to how this shortfall had arisen, because I trusted the
Post Office. This caused huge strain in our relationship, which broke under the
pressure. I later discovered, during the Group Litigation, that the Horizon System was
flawed and that very many subpostmasters like me had been ruined by the Post Office.
Ended up in debt to my parents; and in debt more generally.
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It was, and still is, the worst part of my life. I still have nightmares trying to work out
what happened.
My life was literally torn apart. My reputation was in tatters, my confidence destroyed.
I lost my business and my home, as they were under the same roof. I was forced to
sell my Hairdressing Salon, which I had built and was leasing out as my future pension
fund, just to try and stay afloat financially.
As I say, my relationship broke down, and I was forced to move out of the area due to
feelings of shame generated by rumours.
Fortunately, I was not charged with any criminal offences, but the accusation will live
with me forever. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. My
professionalism and Integrity is everything to me.
I had in the past been a Police Special Constable, as I have very strong morals and a
strong sense of justice. I was diagnosed with Autism in 2018 and following counselling
I was advised that a strong sense of injustice is a very strong trait of autism.
This sense of injustice almost destroyed me, and I am ashamed to say that I considered
ending my life several times prior to moving out of the village by throwing myself in
front of a train at Chorley train station. I even called a taxi one evening to take me to
the station so that I could kill myself. I cancelled the taxi when it arrived.
I went from being an upstanding member of the community to being whispered about;
people would look away when they saw me.
I became clinically depressed, and was treated with antidepressants and even
contemplated taking my own life at the time. My parents also lived through this
experience with me. They knew I was not a thief, but could see how it was affecting
me and this caused them an enormous amount of stress and worry also.
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80. I have one sister, so we are a very close family, I do not know what I would have done
without them, but I am very angry that my parents had to go through this, and still
are. They are in their late 70's and do not deserve to have been caused such worry.
81. I was too ashamed to tell my children about what happened. The still do not know the
facts to this day. I did not want them to worry; however, I am sure they must have
heard rumours, as the whole community were talking about it.
82. I moved over 20 miles from where I lived, for 22 years, in order to avoid seeing people,
as I was so upset that my reputation had been tarnished; nothing goes unnoticed in a
small village.
CONCLUSION
83. I consider that I am one of the fortunate ones, as I was not prosecuted and convicted. I
would not have coped with that, and I am sure had that happened I would have ended
my life.
84. However, I lost everything. My business, income, home, future, reputation and
relationship as a result of the Post Office action against me.
85. I do not like the word compensation, it does not describe what I am seeking. I want to
be repaid for what was taken from me.
86. I did not have an accident that requires compensation. The Post Office knowingly or
recklessly destroyed my life. I want that to be put right.
87. I also want a full explanation of what happened and why. I want to know when the Post
Office knew its Horizon System was faulty and created shortfalls from thin air.
88. If this was known from an early stage, as I believe it was, I want to know why the Post
Office did not investigate and fix these problems, but instead pretended that their
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system was sound. I also want to know why the Post Office pursued subpostmasters
like me with such determination.
89. Although I want my reputation restored, I do not believe that this can happen. The Post
Office ruined my reputation in the village I live in for 22 years, and where I had raised
my children. The damage to my reputation cannot be restored by magic.
90. I also want to know if Government knew that the Post Office’s Horizon System was
flawed, and knew about and permitted what the Post Office was doing to
subpostmasters across the county.
Statement of Truth
Teresa-Marie Lean
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