Speaking to Carole Walker ahead of the inquiry, journalist and author Nick Wallis explains the Post Office scandal, where hundreds of former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were wrongly accused of stealing.

Their convictions were later overturned after it was discovered that a computer error was the cause of accounting shortfalls.

Nick Wallis said: " And the government has been forced to set aside a billion pounds in compensation to those who a. were prosecuted and have now had their convictions quashed and b. who were forced to pay back money with menaces, and that number runs into the thousands."

His book 'The Great Post Office Scandal' details the impact of the errors on the Post Office workers falsely accused.

He said: "This happened on an industrial scale.

"700 people falsely prosecuted, thousands more forced to pay back money that they never owed in the first place, creating broken lives, broken families and mental health problems that will continue to reverberate for many, many years to come."

Listen to Nick Wallis speaking with Carole Walker on Times Radio.


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