Alan Bates and his spouse gifted a free vacation by Richard Branson
This is the second Post Office hero Alan Bates and his spouse fought again tears after studying they have been gifted a free vacation by Richard Branson.
Mr Bates right this moment appeared on ITV‘s This Morning along with his associate Suzanne Sercombe to debate how he led a marketing campaign to reveal the Horizon scandal, by which a whole lot of Post Office employees had been wrongfully accused of theft and fraud.
At the tip of the interview, hosts Craig Doyle and Josie Gibson advised the 68-year-old that the Virgin Group founder has gifted him and Susanna a free journey to Necker Island within the British Virgin Islands.
The former subpostmaster started tearing up as he was then advised he had additionally been gifted a seven evening Mediterrenean cruise from Barcelona, leaving the couple speechless.
It comes as ITV’s new drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has drawn a renewed curiosity within the scandal after airing final week, prompting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to rethink methods to lastly compensate all wrongly accused postmasters.
This is the second Post Office hero Alan Bates and his spouse fought again tears after studying they have been gifted a free vacation by Richard Branson
At the tip of the interview, hosts Craig Doyle and Josie Gibson advised the 68-year-old that the Virgin Group founder has gifted him and Susanna a free journey to Necker Island within the British Virgin Islands
It comes as ITV’s new drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has drawn a renewed curiosity within the scandal after airing final week, with Mr Bates Mr Bates being performed by Toby Jones (pictured within the position)
Mr Bates stated in an interview with the Sunday Times after the present aired and jokingly requested Mr Branson for a vacation. He stated: ‘If Richard Branson is studying this, I’d love a vacation.’
Well, his want has now come true because the billionaire advised him that he had gifted him a ‘well-earned vacation’.
Branson wrote to Mr Bates saying: Dear Alan, I did get an opportunity to learn your shifting interview in The Times and we would like to give you and Suzanne a nicely earned vacation on Necker Island.
‘I am unable to consider anybody who deserves a break extra. Hopefully see you there. Best, Richard.’
Necker Island is Sir Richard Branson’s non-public island within the British Virgin Islands, which he introduced in 1978.
Alan and Suzanna may very well be seen near tears as they had been additionally advised they been gifted a seven evening Mediterrenean cruise from Barcelona from Virgin Voyages.
Reacting to the fantastic information Mr Bates stated: ‘Thank you very a lot Richard. Much appreciated. Much wanted however a lot appreciated.’
Necker Island is Sir Richard Branson’s non-public island within the British Virgin Islands, which he introduced in 1978. Pictured is his luxurious dwelling on the island
Mr Bates appeared on ITV ‘s This Morning along with his associate Suzanne Sercombe to debate how he led a marketing campaign to reveal the Horizon scandal
More than 700 Post Office employees had been falsely prosecuted based mostly on inaccurate information from the agency’s Horizon laptop system, which was developed by Fujitsu.
Some of those individuals had been despatched to jail after being convicted of false accounting and theft, some had their funds left in tatters and a few won’t ever see justice as they’ve since died.
It is taken into account to be probably the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British historical past.
Victims of the scandal have been sharing their heartbreaking tales of being wrongly branded thieves.
One of the victims, Jess Kaur, was delivered to tears as she advised Good Morning Britain viewers she was pushed to committing suicide after being accused of ‘stealing cash’ from the department. She is but to obtain any monetary compensation.
Another two of the victims, Tracy Felstead and Janet Skinner, advised BBC Breakfast that’s Ms Vennells had any decency she hand again the award.
Speaking to Susanna Reid, Jess stated: ‘It drove me so mad that I attempted to commit suicide.
‘While I used to be in hospital. The submit workplace did not imagine that I used to be there. They despatched their very own medical doctors and so they examined me as nicely. Not solely was i getting electrical shock therapy, i used to be additionally getting grief of them.’
Jess Kaur was delivered to tears as she advised Good Morning Britain viewers she was pushed to committing suicide after being accused of ‘stealing cash’ from the department she labored in
The ITV drama of the scandal has additionally led to greater than 1 million signing a petition calling for the previous Post Office chief govt officer Paula Vennells handy again her CBE.
Rishi Sunak yesterday raised hopes of a major breakthrough in eradicating Ms Vennells’ gong as he hinted that every one sub-postmasters convicted within the fiasco might quickly be exonerated. So far, solely a fraction have been formally cleared.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk stated final evening: ‘This was an appalling miscarriage of justice. I’m involved that many sub-postmasters stay convicted, and I’m exploring what lawful choices can be found to hurry up and safe justice.’
A public inquiry into the scandal is because of resume proof hearings this week, with witnesses for Fujitsu – the corporate behind the Horizon IT system – anticipated to look later this month.
Most postmasters have solely acquired interim funds from the Government quite than full monetary settlements, a lot of which have been swallowed up by authorized prices.
Only 11 out of 475 of the total and closing compensation offers are believed to have been accomplished.
Mr Bates helped to guide the marketing campaign which revealed the Horizon IT scandal and introduced the authorized motion in opposition to the Post Office in his identify.
He and his associate Suzanne Sercombe used their life financial savings to purchase the department in 1998.
Mr Bates, who was a meticulous file keeper, began seeing unexplained losses within the accounts by the tip of 2000, when a scarcity of £6,000 appeared, WalesOn-line stories.
Mr Bates had his contract as a subpostmaster terminated by the Post Office in 2003 after he refused to simply accept legal responsibility for £1,200 of losses in his department in Llandudno, Wales. But he contended the cash by no means existed and was resulting from a software program glitch.
He and his associate stored the store, however the termination of the Post Office contract meant they misplaced an funding of round £60,000.
Mr Bates initially thought he was the one subpostmaster or postmistress falsely accused of by the Post Office, who pursued them by way of the courts leading to 736 being prosecuted over the non-existent lacking cash – with 86 being overturned final September.
And in 2009, he arrange the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance (JSFA).
Mr Bates, together with a gaggle of wronged subpostmasters employed solicitors to tackle their case and in 2018, he as one of many six lead claimants, took the Post Office to the High Court in a Group Litigation Order (GLO).
In 2019 a decide dominated that the Horizon IT system had ‘bug, errors and defects’ and the Post Office agreed to settle with all 55 claimants who joined within the authorized motion.
After his relentless campaigning, he was supplied an OBE in January final 12 months for companies to justice, however he declined it because the job was not completed but.
He advised the Honours Committee: ‘I do admire that there might be individuals who imagine that after the numerous years of my unpaid campaigning, which I led with a purpose to expose the reality, I deserve some recognition for my work.
‘But I hope you’ll be able to perceive why it could be so inappropriate for me to simply accept any award at current, whereas so lots of the victims proceed to endure so badly and [Paula] Vennells nonetheless retains an honour and stays a ‘position mannequin’ to the Honours Committee.’
Mr Bates gained a particular recognition award on the 2023 Pride of Britain Awards.
