Debbie Hepplewhite MBE FRSA

MUM CONVICTED, DAUGHTERS SENTENCED Somebody shouted thief through Elaine Hood's shop door. @postoffice shouted it first, in court, with a straight face. Elaine ran a post office and newsagent with her family in Allestree, Derby. In 2003 she was convicted of theft over about £19,000 on evidence from a computer system called Horizon, built by @Fujitsu_Global. It showed cash missing from branches where none was missing, which makes it a fascinating choice of star witness. Around 1,000 postmasters were wrongly convicted between 1999 and 2015, and Post Office prosecuted them itself, a bold way to mark your own homework. Elaine pleaded guilty and got 120 hours of community service and £950 in court costs. The Criminal Cases Review Commission @ccrcupdate sent the case back in March 2023, and the conviction was quashed that September after Post Office conceded the appeal. Justice took 20 years, so nobody can say it rushed. Elaine's daughter Kate Burrows was 14 when the panic attacks started. She still has them today. She has been in and out of therapy for most of her adult life, and the bill has so far gone to nobody responsible. Kate's sister Rebecca Richards was a teenager in that courtroom. She says she watched her mum in the dock, handcuffed to a guard, not knowing if she was coming home. She says two investigators sat in front of her dad and her, sniggering and saying they had got this one. Rebecca says her eating disorder escalated because food was the only thing she could control. Kate says she has had very dark thoughts of suicide. Elaine kept serving customers after that shout through the door, in the same village, to the same neighbours. The boardrooms have shown no such nerve. Kate and Rebecca now help run @LostChances2024, a charity for the children of postmasters. In summer 2024 Kate met Fujitsu Europe boss Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways to help. By December 2024 the group had reportedly received an offer of counselling and nothing else. How thoughtful. Paul Patterson has since moved to chairman of Fujitsu UK to keep managing its response. In July 2025 inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams found that at least 13 suicides may be linked to the scandal and 59 people contemplated suicide. He also found that people at Post Office and Fujitsu knew the system had faults, so the prosecutions were a real team effort. In March 2026 the Department for Business and Trade @tradegovuk announced a redress scheme for family members. Lost Chances helped design it, and the payment levels were still under review. Fujitsu agreed in January 2024 that it had a moral obligation to contribute. By March 2026 MPs found it had made no interim payment and agreed no figure, and it still holds government contracts. In May 2026 Fujitsu UK was reported to be paying staff bonuses, and Post Office extended its Fujitsu contract by £41M to March 2027. Fujitsu says it is engaged with the government on its contribution. A moral obligation, payable in installments of nothing. Fujitsu is engaged with the government. Kate has been engaged with panic attacks since she was 14.