Post Office scandal left me suicidal & bankrupt

Victim fled UK to escape the devastation

- PATRICK HILL

A SUB-POSTMASTER wrongly accused of stealing £35,000 from the Post Office says the scandal left him suicidal.

Tony Downey, 56, was forced into bankruptcy by apparent account shortfalls created by the faulty Horizon computer system and he had to sell his home and business.

Tony, speaking as ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office highlights the fiasco, said: "I have lost everything. It has impacted every aspect of my life and I will never return to the person I used to be."

Tony was among hundreds of Post Office workers wrongly branded thieves and fraudsters by the IT disgrace, which led to 230 people being jailed in one of Britain's greatest miscarriages of justice.

BREAKDOWN

He spoke out as it emerged the Post Office is now under criminal investigation over the wrongful prosecutions - and a petition to strip former PO boss Paula Vennells of her CBE has hit 750,000 signatures.

Tony was never convicted because he covered the money mistakenly said to have gone missing - but the strain ruined his life.

Tony bought a village branch in Hawkshead, Cumbria, in 2001 for £80,000 with a loan guaranteed against his in-laws' house.