‘I shone a light on the Post Office scandal years ago – it’s heartbreaking they weren’t taken seriously until now’

It was an article about the subpostmasters by Katie Glass that piqued the interest of television and brought their plight to life. She kept in touch with many of them, even giving one of them her engagement ring. Here she explains the long road to getting their voices heard

Toby Jones as Alan Bates in the ITV drama which has got the scandal back in the headlines ( ITV)

It was after an article I’d written about the Post Office scandal was published in February 2020 that an email from a TV production company pinged into my inbox: “Having read your piece about the subpostmaster’s story, I know it’s crying out to be a drama.” Four years later, it is. And to what effect. As a consultant to the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, it has been thrilling to see. Not just because it’s exciting to have been part of it, but because it looks like these poor men and women whose lives have been devastated by this scandal will finally get the justice they deserve.

I wasn’t the first journalist to tackle the subject, far from it. In 2010 Nick Wallis, then a presenter for BBC Radio Surrey, was contacted by Davinder Misra, whose pregnant wife Seema was in prison. Wallis has been investigating this scandal for more than a decade. Before that, there was Rebecca Thomson on Computer Weekly, who first reported seven subpostmasters’ complaints about Horizon in 2009. It was covered relentlessly by Private Eye, questions were raised in parliament – all thanks to a long campaign for justice that forced the launch of a wide-ranging public inquiry, which started hearing evidence last year. Giving the story a heart and a face is what seemed to pique the production company’s interest.

As a writer, I’ve covered suicides, murders, and stories of criminal gangs – but none has affected me the way the story I wrote about the subpostmasters did. In reporting it, I spent weeks travelling from Yorkshire to Surrey to interview them, and found the most decent and humble people I’d ever met.