Key Summary
- Rooprit Gill, wrongly convicted, is preparing to reclaim her former Post Office branch in Birmingham.
- The family-run business marks 50 years next year, founded by her late father in 1976.
- Gill is still awaiting compensation, despite continued delays criticised by the Horizon inquiry.
Former subpostmistress Rooprit Gill, who lost her Post Office branch after being wrongly accused of theft during the Horizon scandal, is preparing to return to her family business.
If approved, Gill will be one of the first Horizon scandal victims to return to the same branch they once ran.
Gill ran the Wattville Road Post Office in Handsworth in Birmingham. Her branch was started by her father in 1976, who was among the first Asian postmasters outside London.
Later, it was handed down to her. In 2011, she was convicted in 2011 for assisting her husband in covering up the theft of more than £38,000.
When the wrong allegations of money going missing from her Post Office first emerged, there was an assumption in the local community that she was guilty.
She was dismissed after discrepancies were found in her bookkeeping but continued working in her family’s shop, which housed the branch.
To try to balance the books and stay out of jail, she said she ended up missing card and mortgage payments and her parents had to sell a property to keep her going.
Her father has since passed away, and next year marks the 50th anniversary of him buying the business.
She is still working daily in the convenience store behind the post office counter, waiting for the final step that will allow her to officially return.
Gill is still waiting for the compensation.
In the Sir Wyn William's first volume of report on Post Office Horizon scandal, it is stated that at least 59 people contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives, and more than 13 people may have killed themselves due to the scandal.
The report said the scandal had a "disastrous" impact on those accused. The inquiry also heavily slammed the speed of compensation, saying that for many claimants it had not been delivered "promptly".