London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 12, 2025

Post Office scandal: I considered ending my life

Post Office scandal: I considered ending my life

A former Post Office sub-postmistress said she worked out how she would take her own life after she was wrongly accused of stealing more than £9,600.

Jennifer O'Dell said she suffered from "night terrors" after being told by bosses she was guilty of theft and that they would "take my home away".

She is one of hundreds who were wrongly accused of crimes due to a flaw in a computer system called Horizon.

The cases constitute Britain's most widespread miscarriage of justice.

Speaking at a public inquiry into the scandal, Mrs O'Dell claimed she was bullied and intimidated by former Post Office director Angela van den Bogerd at a hearing following her suspension in January 2010, where she was accused of stealing £9,617.

The former sub-postmistress, who ran a post office from a converted room in her home in Cambridgeshire, explained how the Horizon software, used to complete accounting tasks, first suggested she was down £1,000 in June 2009.

Over the coming months, the system was calculating more money had gone, but when Mrs O'Dell called the Horizon helpline she was told to "pay the money back", with one call handler "shouting at me down the phone".

"I was saying to them the Horizon system is wrong. They just didn't want to know," the 72-year-old told the inquiry.

"It felt as thought there was somebody in the depths of an office block, the lights dimmed, and they were at a Horizon terminal and they were manipulating the figures."

In January 2010, Mrs O'Dell said she was visited by Post Office staff, who accused her of stealing more than £9,000 and told her she was suspended.

Angela van den Bogerd was found by a judge to have misled a court after giving evidence


Following her suspension, the sub-postmistress said she went to several hearings with Post Office bosses in what she described as a "kangaroo court".

In one mediation shortly after she'd had a cancer scare, Mrs O'Dell said Ms van den Bogerd, who was found by a judge to have "obfuscated" and "misled" a court in 2020, "became extremely intimidating, extremely bullying" towards her.

"[She was] demanding that I sign a piece of paper that I had stolen the money," said Mrs O'Dell.

"And if I did not they were going to take my home away. They would take me to court."

Mrs O'Dell has never been prosecuted for the alleged crimes, the inquiry heard, but she was never told why she wasn't.

"Every morning I would wake up expecting a letter," the grandmother said. "You woke up and thought is there going to be a special delivery letter with a summons to court?

"I had letters demanding the money. I always wrote back saying I'm not going to give you the money because the money has not gone missing, so no."

Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 sub-postmasters and mistresses were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting. A total of 72 have had their names cleared so far.

72 sub-postmasters and mistresses celebrated the quashing of their convictions last April


The inquiry - which is expected to run for the rest of this year - is examining whether the Post Office knew about faults in the IT system, Horizon, which was developed by Japanese company Fujitsu.

Led by retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams, the inquiry is beginning with six weeks of testimony from former Post Office staff. It will also ask how and why they were left to shoulder the blame.

'Extremely dark places'


Becoming visibly upset, Mrs O'Dell said after her Post Office shut due to the scandal, "people would cross the road", when she was walking in her village.

She said she had been selected as parliamentary candidate for the 2010 General Election, but "stepped down" because she didn't want to bring the party "into disrepute".

Mrs O'Dell said she went to some "extremely dark places" and "even worked out how" to end her own life.

"I had night terrors. It was two to three times a week. I was innocent and they did that to me," she said.

"You know what I have to do at the moment? I have to cut logs to warm my house. I want these people brought to justice. I went them to say 'yes, we did it, we didn't tell the truth under oath'."

The Post Office has previously said it is "sincerely sorry for the impact of the Horizon scandal on the lives of victims and their families and we are in no doubt about the human cost".

The inquiry continues and will soon hear from witnesses in Leeds and Cardiff.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
×