Seema Misra
The post office operator from Surrey was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft and locked up on her son's 10th birthday while eight weeks pregnant. She recalls being sent to a "horrendous" jail in Ashford, Surrey, Europe's largest female prison, where she was placed on suicide watch after collapsing in court.
Among many other horrors she faced while incarcerated, Misra discovered a prisoner who had taken her own life and has said she would have killed herself in prison if she had not been pregnant. Misra gave birth to her second child in hospital wearing an electronic tag after she was released early for good behaviour.
It took 11 years to prove her innocence; she was cleared in 2021. The 47-year-old told the inquiry into the scandal that Post Office bosses "acted like mafia" and said they had "blood on their hands".
Her trial, in October 2010, became a test case for the reliability of Horizon, with her legal team telling the court that data from the computer accounting system could not be trusted. While emails have revealed that Post Office lawyers had a report about a Horizon bug creating shortfalls at 40 branches in early October 2010, it was not disclosed to the defence at Misra's trial later that month.
When she was convicted, bosses celebrated. David Smith, then managing director, hailed her imprisonment as "brilliant news".
Lee Castleton
Denne historien er fra January 08, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra January 08, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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