Mistreated Former Sub-postmasters Receive Standing Ovation

Published on: 16 May, 2024
Updated on: 18 May, 2024

From left to right: campaigner Eleanor Shaikh, then former sub-postmasters Chirag Sidpura, Seema Misra and her husband Davinder receiving a standing ovation. Photo Nick Wallis©

By Martin Giles

A full house at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre gave two former sub-postmasters a standing ovation last night having heard about the Great Post Office Scandal from journalist Nick Wallis.

The evening started with Nick recounting the story of the scandal from the 1990s when the infamous Horizon computer system was installed in post office branches, across the country, up to the current public hearings.

Nick Wallis

Nick was first alerted to the story when working for Radio Surrey at Guildford and he took a call from Davinder Misra, the husband of Seema Misra, who had been jailed while pregnant because she refused to plead guilty to theft which she knew she had not committed.

See Dragon interview with Nick here: Great Post Office Scandal Reporter Coming to Guildford

Farncombe Post Office

In a previous Radio 4 interview Davinder said he was beaten up three times after his wife was labelled a “pregnant thief” by a local newspaper.

Then, after the interval, Chirag Sidpura, formerly the sub-postmaster at Farncombe, joined Nick on stage. The three gave at times emotional, first-hand accounts of their harrowing experiences.

As late as 2017, when doubts about the accuracy of the Horizon system were already well known, Chirag, threatened by legal action, paid the Post Office £57,000 and was sacked because of a “discrepancy” discovered in an unannounced visit from a Post Office auditor.

Giving his reaction after the presentation, Nick Wallis told The Dragon: “Seeing Seema, Davinder and Chirag get the reception they did from a packed house is something I will never forget.

“I’m delighted so many people came to the Yvonne Arnaud to show support for these brave people. “

Nick Wallis’s book The Great Post Office Scandal can be purchased here.

Responses to Mistreated Former Sub-postmasters Receive Standing Ovation

Olly Azad Reply

May 17, 2024 at 10:58 am

The audience itself deserves a round of applause for demonstrating that it disapproves of the Post Office’s utter incompetency shown by the Horizon scandal and the “racist” methods applied by the Post Office,”negroid” being among others to label victims who had been wrongly convicted. A big shout out to journalist Nick Wallis for covering this miscarriage of justice from the very early stages and campaigner Eleanor Shaikh for standing with the victims.

As for all the victims that were wrongly convicted and sentenced for crimes they did not commit, sadly some are no longer with us, I salute their courage, determination and sacrifices and for standing up to injustice.