It has been called the greatest miscarriage of justice in British history - the UK Post Office scandal.
Nearly 1000 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted or convicted of theft, false accounting and fraud - due to a computer system failure that was denied for years. Thousands of others paid up for the discrepancies which were none of their doing.
The story of the scandal, which has ruined lives and led to a decades-long battle for justice, is now being told here through a TV drama - Mr Bates vs the Post Office, screening on TVNZ plus.
But the real-life consequences continue, for its victims. While there was a successful class action of 555 subpostmasters led by former postie Alan Bates in 2019, there are hundreds more who are still fighting to clear their names and secure what they deem fair compensation.
Former subpostmaster Keith Macaldowie, from Greenock in Scotland, tells his story. Kathryn then speaks to another subpostmaster - now retired - Peter Collins from Blackpool and his lawyer, leading the charge for dozens of other subpostmasters to get justice, Neil Hudgell.
The Post Office in South Warnborough. Its former postmistress was wrongly convicted of theft due to the Post Office Horizon scandal and her conviction was quashed in 2021 when she was found to be a victim of a faulty accounting system. Photo: AFP
