A former subpostmaster who was wrongfully imprisoned for the theft of £50,000 has told the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry that the scandal saw him lose everything and made him consider taking his own life.
From 2005, Abiodun Omotoso was in charge of Walsworth Post Office in Hitchin and lived in Stevenage - and in 2008, aged 33, he was convicted of stealing more than £50,358 from his workplace.
Mr Omotoso was jailed for two years and four months, and yet he wasn't a thief. The Horizon IT system the Post Office had introduced in 1999 was eventually found to be flawed, after causing devastation to more than 700 people wrongfully accused and their families. The Hitchin subpostmaster's conviction was finally quashed in 2021.
He submitted a witness statement ahead of the inquiry on January 12 this year.
A summary was read by barrister Angela Patrick to the inquiry’s Human Impact Hearings. The proceedings are being led by retired High Court Judge Sir Wyn Williams.
The statement said: "Before working for the Post Office, Abiodun Omotoso was a management consultant. He has an economics degree and began working as a subpostmaster at the Walsworth Post Office at around August 2005.
"On October 2006, the branch was audited and £50,000 was alleged to have been short. He had always paid smaller shortfalls when they were worth £40 or £50 but as they got larger, he could not afford to pay and so rolled it over. He was spending hours counting money and, at the end, the figure was still not right.
"Mr Omotoso said: "During this time my mood was very low and I even contemplated taking my own life. I was ashamed and angry."
"He says investigators visited his house but he refused to let them search his house. He says he was told that if he tried to get a solicitor they would make things difficult for him.
"He says investigators even tried to speak to his neighbours to ask them questions about him. He says of this: "I felt degraded."
"He attended his interview with the Post Office without legal representation. He says he was informed that if he was to comply then everything would be fine. He had no idea others were going through the same things as him. His contract was terminated and he was charged with theft.
"Mr Omotoso says: "I was told that if I complied I would get a slap on the wrist."
"However, he told them he was not pleading guilty for something he did not do. On August 28, 2008, he was found guilty of theft at Luton Crown Court.
"He was sentenced to 28 months in prison, which was a complete shock to him. He says: "It was heartbreaking to lose everything."
"At his sentencing, the judge accused him, he says, of trying to malign the integrity of professionals. He wants the Inquiry to know his health has suffered massively in prison, where his eyesight deteriorated and his blood pressure shot up.
"He says he has been diagnosed since with adjustment disorder, mixed anxiety and depressed mood. He has been told that his glaucoma, hypertension and diabetes may have been caused by prolonged acute stress.
"His wife left him when he was in prison and they're now divorced. Following his conviction, he was prevented from seeing his children. This absolutely devastated him. He had been a very hands-on father, doing school runs and accompanying both children on sporting activities. He says not being able to do this "broke my heart".
"He says that before his conviction he used to go out of his way to help people in the community but he says "now the local community is wary of me". He says "They think I am a thief".
"Mr Omotoso says: "To think people thought these things about me brought me deep shame."
"Before his conviction he had been asked to consider becoming a school governor. This was no longer an option afterwards.
"He was subject to a confiscation order to pay back the entire shortfall of over £50,000. He was forced to sell the family home, his business and to declare bankruptcy. He found it difficult to get another job following conviction and he says he suffered terribly financially.
"He says now he feels vindicated but he wants the Inquiry to know, "I will have to live with this harrowing experience forever."
The inquiry is expected to continue throughout 2021.
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