Naman Shrestha
The biographical drama series PBS’ ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ provides a detailed account of the Post Office scandal and the resultant formation of the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA). Led by a determined former subpostmaster named Alan Bates, the JFSA consisted of a group of former subpostmasters who had been falsely accused of fraud and theft. The show puts special focus on Jo Hamilton, who was one of the more important and interesting members of the alliance.
Who is Jo Hamilton?
Jo Hamilton was one of the hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongfully convicted of theft and fraud for the Post Office scandal, related to the faulty Horizon accounting system. She used to work for the Post Office while also running a village shop in South Warnborough, Hampshire. After working for a couple of years at her branch, she became the subpostmistress of the branch in 2003. Initially, when the faulty Horizon system showed some discrepancies on her account, she began paying it off from her own pocket, thinking that she might have made some mistake.
In an attempt to get rid of these constant shortfalls, Jo went deep into debt and even remortgaged her house two times. What made her situation more difficult was the fact that she didn’t even tell her family about her difficult financial situation. In 2006, her shortfall increased to £10,000 and that was when she was sacked from her job as well as accused of theft of £36,000. A couple of years later, in February 2008, in order to avoid going to prison, she was persuaded to take a plea bargain for the charge of false accounting and agreed to pay the remaining sum of money back.
Jo was also sentenced to a community order. After selling her shop, she worked as a cleaner. Her fortunes turned around after she met Alan Bates and became a part of the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance in November 2009. Finally, after years and years of proving her innocence, in 2021, her conviction was overturned, along with several other former subpostmasters as it was proved that the Horizon system was at fault.
Where is Jo Hamilton Now?
In the initial stages of the negotiations with the Post Office, Jo Hamilton was offered only about 20% of what she demanded but ended up receiving 80%. Having mixed feelings about accepting the compensation offer, she had survivor’s guilt as many of her colleagues were still fighting for their respective settlements. However, since she did not want her husband to spend his old age waiting for money, Jo accepted the compensation and paid off all her debt. On January 9, 2024, Jo made an appearance on ‘This Morning’ along with Monica Dolan, who portrayed her in the show. Although it is a dramatized account of the true events, ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ made the government “fast-track justice.”
Jo explained, “They push out all of these statements and everything and make it look like they’re paying everybody, but trust me – they’re not. They’re not paying the group that took them on in the High Court and that’s not right.” On the show, she revealed that she was still not repaid totally for the scandal. The following day, she also featured on Lorraine, where she talked about Paula Vennells. While giving evidence to the Post Office Scandal Business and Trade Select Committee on January 16, 2024, Jo informed Sky News that the Post Office convinced her that it was all her fault. She elaborated, “It just makes me so angry that they’d literally gaslit me for about three years and turned me into a basket case.”
In March 2024, Jo Hamilton, along with Monica Dolan, made an appearance at the Brit Awards where they presented singer-songwriter Raye with her first prestigious trophy for Escapism. Jo addressed the crowd at the award ceremony, “I want to thank everyone in the country for the love and the support they have given the postmasters. Please can you keep on supporting us because, despite what the government says, they’re not paying the postmasters.” At present, she is in a long-standing battle to help the rest of the victims get fully compensated.
Read More: Where is Saman Kaur From Mr Bates vs The Post Office Now?
