Post Office: Former Sussex postmaster recounts devastating impact of Horizon scandal - 'It was absolute torture'

Sami Sabet owned three post offices in Shoreham-by-Sea and Brighton. He was among hundreds of people across the country who were convicted because of the company’s defective Horizon accounting system.

The case – considered to be one of the biggest ever miscarriages of justice – has made national headlines this month after the Mr Bates vs The Post Office ITV drama.

A bug in the computer system led to financial shortfalls in branch accounts. After being taken to court, Mr Sabet felt he had no choice but to plead guilty to lessen the sentence.

He received a 12-month suspended prison sentence in 2009 after admitting two charges of fraud. The conviction was eventually overturned at the Court of Appeal in 2021.

Mr Sabet said: “I didn't go to prison but I might as well have done.

"The years went by and, after I didn't seek any medical help, I developed diabetes, had a major heart attack. I needed major heart surgery.

“Not to mention the stigma of it all – people not talking to you, ostracizing you. I became a criminal. I absolutely was [shunned by the community].

"One person came up to my wife and said 'leave him, he's a crook. He's going to ruin you'.

“Fortunately she stood by me. She was very good and helped and supported me but we were absolutely distraught.

"I was trying desperately to live a normal life.”

Mr Sabet also revealed that, before his criminal record was quashed in 2021, he wasn’t able to get house insurance.

“To drive a car, I had to pay two or three times the premium I would normally pay,” he added.

"It affected me in a number of ways – not just me but all the others. They destroyed all these people.

"It was absolute torture. You were alive every day, suffering. Every single minute and every hour, going over and over in your mind about what happened.

“I have a number of medical issues so I don't think I will get justice in my lifetime.”

In 2003, Mr Sabet ran post offices in Mill Lane, Portslade, as well as East Beach and West Beach in Shoreham.

Amid offers of compensation from the government, the retired businessman said that ‘isn't enough for what happened’, adding that he wants someone to be held responsible.

"They've tortured us for up to 20 years or more,” he said. “No one was held responsible or accountable.

"I would love for all those people to face what we had to face, to feel what we had to go through. Suffer as we suffered. I'd love to be able to live for whatever time I have, the way I could have lived. I just don't think that's going to happen.

“I have a daughter who was very affected by it. It was terrible for our family. We had to borrow a lot of money. It was degrading.

"I was trusted with hundreds of millions of pounds and there I was, effectively being called a thief. This goliath of a company completely annihilated me. They beat me and I couldn't do anything about it.”

It was announced on Tuesday (January 9) that ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells would hand back her CBE ‘with immediate effect’.

"It's absolutely right she should do that,” Mr Sabet said. “She should not be rewarded for us being completely destroyed.

"It's the only sensible thing to do.”

The father-of-one welcomed the news that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering measures to clear all 700 victims – but questioned why it needed a TV show for action to be taken.

"As for Rishi Sunak, it's great what he's saying but what has he been doing the last four / five years?” Mr Sabet asked.

“How is it going to affect things now. I have not got what I should be able to claim in terms of financial losses.

"It’s been almost three years – how much longer will we have to wait? Will I still be alive to see this justice being served? Will I get what I should get to allow me to live the way I could have lived before?”

It has since been announced by the prime minister that the government will bring in a new law to ‘swiftly exonerate and compensate victims’ of the Post Office scandal.