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Witness Name: Mrs Tracey Etheridge
Statement No.: WITN0323_01
Exhibits: None
Dated: 14 — 3- 22
IN THE POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WITNESS STATEMENT OF MRS TRACEY ETHERIDGE
I, MRS TRACEY ETHERIDGE will say as follows:
1. I am the wife of Mr Gareth Etheridge, who is also a core participant in this Inquiry.
2. Gareth Etheridge has provided a statement which gives an account of the shared
experiences of our family.
3. I confirm that I have read the statement of Mr Gareth Etheridge and that its contents
are a true and accurate reflection of our experiences.
4. However, I would like to say something further on the human impact.
HUMAN IMPACT
Dy The post office was the community’s lifeline and was a much-needed part of the
Gurnos Estate and this was one of the reasons why we purchased the post office.
6. The abuse I received as a result of the Post Office was horrendous. People would be
talking behind my back, on one occasion I had to attend the doctors so I had to catch
a bus and the abuse I received from people behind my was terrible.
7. On one instance, when we were having shortfalls, I had just finished work at the post
office and I was speaking to a friend. A young man walked by and said to me “if you
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close the post office, they will find you hanging from the nearest tree”. It was very
frightening to be told this and I went straight to my mother’s which was not far from
the post office. It worried me for a long time as the Gurnos is a rough area but I lived
up there and I knew how rough it can be, but a lot of people knew me and my husband.
I had concerns because I would be leaving the post office late in the evening when it
was dark, it was scary.
I once overheard a customer in the queue saying “god you’ve taken some money from
here haven’t you” I said that “I haven’t done anything”. I had incidents like these.
I felt really bad as I had worked in Four Boy’s, a local shop on the Gurnos Estate, for a
long time, and the boss who was over there had heard about what was happening
with the post office and he came over to me and said “do not worry not all of us think
of you like that”. It was upsetting to go out for a really long time due to abuse I would
receive.
After we had another shortfall, I attempted to take my own life by overdosing. It was
the stress and pressure and the way that me and Gareth were arguing, I felt that
Gareth thought I had done it and taken the money.
I could not take it because Gareth and I had been together for so long, I did not know
what to do and where to go, it was a no-win situation, it seemed that suicide was the
only way out.
It was a hard time, my mother still lived up in the Gurnos and I still had to go there
and I still had looks from strange people.
My mother and daughters all had abuse, my mother had muck thrown at her
windows.
I was ashamed as I was thinking if Gareth thought I had taken the money, then what
was everybody thinking.
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15. My attempted overdose affected my youngest daughter, she has not forgotten about
how she saw me. I think Post Office Ltd were responsible for my daughter seeing me
like that.
16. I no longer have confidence; I would have been working had it not been for the events
that happened with the post office. I have always enjoyed working with customers
and have always had a good relationship with people.
17. I was a bubbly person, I loved to be out talking to people, Gareth and I would go to
town but it is so difficult now I just like to stay in the house.
STATEMENT OF TRUTH
I believe the contents of this statement to be true
GRO owes conta
Signed.
Tracey Etheridge
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