Additional reporting by KMTV’s Finn Macdiarmid

A former postmaster wrongly imprisoned during the Horizon IT scandal says the government’s offer of £600,000 compensation is not a "fair amount".

Sunil Patel, from Littlestone on Romney Marsh, ran a Post Office in St Mary’s Bay alongside the neighbouring Beachside Stores with his wife Stella.

But in 2010, the father-of-three was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being wrongly accused of stealing £48,000 from the company between 2008 and 2009.

Mr Patel was one of more than 900 sub-postmasters prosecuted for stealing due to incorrect information provided by the faulty Horizon computer system.

After being convicted on three counts of falsifying accounts, the 62-year-old served nine months at HMP Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey before being let out early for good behaviour.

Last week, Mr Patel finally received a letter from the Ministry of Justice saying his conviction had been overturned, something he describes as a “weight being lifted”.

But he says the government’s offer of £600,000 compensation - which includes the £48,000 he was ordered to pay back - does not go far enough.

The conviction meant Mr Patel, who now works for HM Revenue and Customs, had to sell off two of his properties to pay off the debt and pay back a business loan of £180,000.

“They are offering one-off compensation for £600,000 which includes your shortfall,” he said.

“I was told I could take that if I wanted, but if I think it's not fair I can fight them for a fairer amount.

“I had to go through so much suffering to pay off that £48,000.

“After the 15 years I have suffered and the really heavy losses, it [the £600,000] doesn't compare to what would have happened if I hadn't gone through that.

“People who didn't go to prison were offered that, and I had to go for nine months.”

The Department of Business and Trade (DBT) has set up the redress scheme for postmasters who had their convictions overturned so they can access compensation.

Victims have the choice of taking a fixed settlement of £600,000 or they can opt to have a fully detailed assessment if they feel the sum is unfair, something Mr Patel has chosen to do.

“I was branded a criminal when I didn't do anything wrong, it was the worst time of my life,” he said.

“People would always talk behind your back to say I was the one who stole the money.

“Hopefully, we can start a new life again.”

The scandal has been described as the UK's most widespread miscarriage of justice after ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office sparked outcry.

Mr Patel said he tried to raise concerns about the financial discrepancies with the Post Office on several occasions but felt no one would listen to him.

“In the first year, they were very small but slowly they started getting bigger and bigger,” he said.

“They went from a few pounds to hundreds. Then in 2008, it started becoming thousands every week.

“I would ring them up and tell them the balance and that I was short.

“They always used to say ‘if you are short you add on the same amount and it will adjust itself’.

“We asked for them to send a manager around, but they never used to come.

“The balance kept on growing and in 2009 after 15 months, the balance grew to a £48,000 shortfall.

“They sent the auditors in and I said there had been loads of discrepancies, and that the Post Office knew about it, but they were not prepared to listen.

“They said it was a big shortfall so I would have to pay the money or they would close me down but we didn't have that kind of cash.”

The Post Office in Teelin Close was shut down in 2009 and security guards were sent in to search the property.

Legal proceedings were then started and Mr Patel, who had run the site for five years, was given a court date a year later.

He explained he felt he had no other choice but to plead guilty in a bid to save his family from crippling debt.

“The Post Office said they wanted to negotiate with me,” he said.

“They said I would be looking at a three-year prison sentence if it goes to court, but if I plead guilty to false accounting, they would drop the theft charges and the legal costs.

“Legal costs were quite big and in other cases, they were going up to about £400,000 and it would have bankrupted me, so I agreed.”

The prosecution claimed Mr Patel stole the money to pay mortgages on the seven properties he owned following the economic downturn.

He says he was made out to be a criminal who stole money from pensioners and brought shame on his family.

“People wouldn't even look at me, they would cross the street to walk on the other side away from me,” he said.

“It was really embarrassing and it was worse for my wife and my kids. While I was in prison they bore the brunt of everything.

“They still needed to run the shop next door so they couldn't avoid seeing anybody.

“People would ask ‘where is the money? When is the Post Office going to open and are we going to give back the money?’

“I have three daughters, my older daughter was at university in her final year and she came back a term early to help out with the shop.

“Over the next 10 years, we hardly ever went out…”

“My other daughter was at school and everybody heard about it from the local and national press so it was embarrassing for them.

“Over the next 10 years, we hardly ever went out.

“If my family went to a social event, they would always get pointed out as the daughters of the man who went to prison.”

Now Mr Patel, who sold Beachside Stores in 2020, hopes those who are responsible for the suffering of postmasters are held accountable.

He added: “I feel annoyed at the Post Office because they knew something was wrong and they did nothing.

“The head of the Post Office knew all along. People have died and others have taken their life in the time this has taken and it could have all been prevented.

“I would like to see the Post Office executives face an inquiry because none of them have been punished.”

In a statement, a Post Office spokesman said it is “deeply sorry for the hurt and suffering” caused to the victims of the scandal.

“We continue to work alongside the government to do all we can to ensure justice and redress as swiftly as possible,” they added.

A DBT spokesperson said: “We recognise that for postmasters who have had to endure hardships or even jail time like Mr Patel, no amount of compensation will ever be enough, and that they have waited too long to receive redress.

“We’re working tirelessly across government to bring Mr Patel and others who have had their Horizon convictions overturned with full, fair and swift redress, and have already paid out £363 million to more than 2,900 claimants across four schemes.”