Wrongly-accused Great Staughton postmistress’ compensation delay

Between 1999 and 2015, 700 sub-postmasters and postmistresses – self-employed people who run Post Office branches – were prosecuted by the Post Office for offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting, with some going to prison and many left financially ruined.

Mrs O’Dell ran her Post Office in Great Staughton, near St Neots, from November 2000 until her suspension in January 2010, when she was accused of stealing £9,617.

In 2022, she told the public inquiry into the scandal that it almost caused her to take her own life.

Mrs O’Dell began the process of applying for compensation for loss of earnings at the beginning of last year.

When she applied for the job, she told the Post Office she hoped to work well into her 70s if not longer.

“The Post Office already had quite a bit of the paperwork from my losses,” she said.

“But then I had to have a psychiatric evaluation last year and when it came back there were a few bits that weren’t right so it had to go back.”