A Fife victim of the Post Office scandal says lawyers are poring over her mother’s medical records as she continues her fight for compensation.
Myra Philp and mum Mary were wrongly accused of stealing £70,000 from Auchtermuchty Post Office in 2002.
And Myra turned down a compensation offer of just £40,000 a year ago.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £1.8 billion compensation package during Wednesday’s budget.
But the 63-year-old Fifer is still no closer to actually receiving any cash.
And a former Perthshire postmaster has also called for clarity on the funding, amid concerns it might also have to cover legal costs.
“The fight is having to go on and it’s beyond stressful,” said Myra.
“The lawyers I’ve got have forensic psychologists looking back at my mother’s state of mind.
“I have to get her entire medical records for the whole of her life.
“And because I was a registered partner in the business, all my HMRC records are being looked at by forensic accountants.
“It’s all very well announcing compensation but actually giving us what we’re owed seems to be a different thing.”
‘We have every right to get that money back’
Myra and Mary lost their business and their home and endured years of suspicion as a result of errors in the Post Office’s Horizon computer system.
And Mary died in 2018 without ever clearing her name.
Myra, who lives in Methil, has spent years jumping through hoops in her fight for redress.
She gave evidence at the Post Office Horizon Inquiry and previously called for bosses to be jailed.
“My lawyers put together a statement three months ago and I haven’t been able to look at it,” she said.
“It’s like a mental block and every time there’s another announcement it hits you again.
“We’re continuing to go through all of this just for what we’re owed.
“The Post Office stole that money from us. We’ve got every right to get it back.”
Myra added: “Everybody involved just needs closure but the chancellor’s statement is as clear as mud.”
Will postmasters be ‘shafted’ again?
Former Pitlochry postmaster Chris Dawson is also calling for assurances that the Chancellor’s £1.8 billion package will not have to cover the cost of settling claims.
He went bankrupt and lost his business, his home, his marriage and his good name after he was wrongly suspected of stealing £17,500 from his post office in May 2010.
Chris has settled his claim for compensation. But he says he won’t rest until he sees justice for the thousands of other postmasters who suffered similar – and worse – ordeals.
“The £1.8 billion is welcome, as long as it doesn’t need to cover legal fees,” he said.
“If it does, it will mean postmasters are being shafted again.”
He also criticised the Post Office for making offers of £75,000 to postmasters to settle out of court.
“That’s a drop in the ocean compared to what they are entitled to in compensation,” he said.
“But a lot of these people are in their 70s and 80s now, and they’re being told ‘ this can all be over now if you just accept’.”
Chris, Myra and Mary are among around 3,000 sub-postmasters who were pursued by the Post Office for alleged theft and fraud.
More than 900 were prosecuted.
In 2019, a high court case ruled the Horizon IT system had been at fault.
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