Now, he says he can finally start enjoying and living life again .
Chris Trousdale, 38, from Whitby in North Yorkshire, said he had been through a long and torturous 16-year journey .
Mr Trousdale was sentenced to a Community Punishment Order in March 2004, at the age of just 22, after being prosecuted by the Post Office and advised to plead guilty to false accounting or face jail.
He said: Today feels like the heavy lead box we have been trapped in has had the lid ripped off. We can take our first breath and look forward to being able to start to heal and rebuild.