the post office blamed them, like thousands of other sub postmasters, closing the branch. the sethis lost their business and their livelihood. in the 40 or 50 years we have run the post office, what have we got to show? nothing. and we couldn t even get our children married. we couldn t look after them. we couldn t do anything for them. i feel a failure myself. but today, for the first time, someone in authority is listening to what happened to them. the people who did this, they should be investigated. not a single person has been brought to a charge, still today. they have gone scot free, and their answer would be, sorry, they have left the organisation of they have retired. or they have retired. yes, but they are the people who did it, and this is not one person, this goes right to the top. and baljit s story is just
i want accountability, so i want someone to say, yes, something happened, we know it was wrong, these are the people that should be facing justice, like my father said. after 20 years of running post office branches, new software being rolled out across the country started showing mysterious holes in their accounts. the post office blamed them, like thousands of other sub postmasters, closing the branch. the sethis lost their business and their livelihood. in the 40 or 50 years we have run the post office, what have we got to show? nothing. and we couldn t even get our children married. we couldn t look after them. we couldn t do anything for them. i feel a failure myself. but today, for the first time, someone in authority is listening to what happened to them. it s the job of this public inquiry to find out here in the post office made the decisions that ruined their lives. the people who did this, they should be investigated. not a single person has been brought
the inquiry will look at what the post office knew about faults in the it system and why innocent staff were prosecuted. after 20 years, still no one has been held to account. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has more. it s a big day for the sethi family. of course, we are a bit nervous, but we are very happy that we have got an opportunity to put a case for the first time. they are hoping forjustice at last. i want accountability, so i want someone to say, yes, something happened, we know it was wrong, these are the people that should be facing justice, like my father said. after 20 years of running post office branches, new software being rolled out across the country started showing mysterious holes in their accounts. the post office blamed them, like thousands of other sub postmasters, closing the branch. the sethis lost their business and their livelihood. in the a0 or 50 years we have
anjuna and baljit sethi owned this branch. in fact, anjuna s dad was a sub postmaster, too. they are a post office family. but 20 years ago, they went from running a successful business to financial ruin. it was all because, in 2001, the post office computer system at their branch started showing big losses, which baljit was being asked to coverfrom his own pocket. so i said to the post office, sorry, i can t put in £17,000. i don t have that kind of money. the post office said if they wouldn t pay up, the branch would be closed. the sethis had no choice. they lost their business and were forced into bankruptcy. we managed a year or two, just like that, just living from hand to mouth. he was not worried about us losing our house, he was more worried about us losing our house, this house. they tried not to let it impact the children, but some days, they couldn t hide the tears. she was crying, and our daughter said, mum, what happened? i don t know, something has got into my eyes.
i don t have that kind of money. the post office said, if they wouldn t pay up, the branch would be closed. the sethis had no choice. they lost their business and were forced into bankruptcy. we managed a year or two, just like that, just living from hand to mouth. he was more worried about us losing our house, this house. they tried not to let it impact the children but, some days, they couldn t hide the tears. she was crying, and our daughter said, mum, what happened? i don t know, something has got into my eyes. and, of course, my boys, you know, like, it was hard for them as well. you feel helpless, in a way. you feel like they vej done nothing wrong. adip and amit found it hard as teenagers, watching their parents lose everything after decades of work for the post office. we had an armed robbery on my 18th birthday, and my mum was screaming downstairs. i came running down and she was holding the door to stop people trying to get into the house.