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and
January 2007. The judge found in favour of the Post Office and awarded £321,000 costs against Castleton. Unable to pay the costs, Castleton was forced to declare bankruptcy. The case and bankruptcy had a devastating impact on the lives of Castleton and his family. He was forced to close his shop and return to his former occupation of electrician. He had to sell his home and move into rented accommodation. His wife suffered stress-induced seizures and his children had to move schools because of bullying.
168:
employee Peter Sewell, who had never had any contact with
Castleton, apologised for having referred to him as a "nasty chap" in an internal email during the court case. Castleton told media: "Obviously it's difficult to hear but it's not something that I didn't expect... I think we're all realists and we knew there was some kind of conspiracy under there and it's been laid out for all to see."
144:, started showing discrepancies. Castleton phoned the Horizon helpline 91 times, only to be given bland assurances that things would right themselves or, eventually, be told that he was responsible for the shortfalls. By March 2004 the false shortfalls had reached about £23,000; Castleton was suspended and then had his contract terminated.
151:. Castleton's solicitor advised him to counter-claim for defamation and loss of income. When the case came to court on 9 February 2006, the Post Office's legal team did not turn up so the judge dismissed their claim and awarded Castleton his counter-claim. The Post Office then raised the case again, this time in the
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in London. Castleton's legal insurance had run out and he had to represent himself; the Post Office spared no expense even though they knew they would not be able to recover their legal costs if they won, as
Castleton had no assets. The case was heard before Justice Richard Havery in December 2006
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agreed that locking
Castleton out of the mediation scheme that had been set up in 2013 was "unforgivable". In a media interview, Castleton said "I just wish she would have recognised that in 2013 - it would have made such a difference to a lot of people". Giving evidence to the inquiry, Fujitsu
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The Post Office later admitted, during the Post Office
Horizon IT Inquiry, that they had brought the case to make an example of Castleton, to defend the Horizon software and to deter other subpostmasters from bringing legal claims against them. During the inquiry former Post Office
140:. Castleton, who was aged 35 with two young children at the time, became the subpostmaster, while his wife Lisa ran the retail side of the business. At first all went well, but in January 2004 the faulty Post Office Horizon accounting system, which was developed by
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after his accounts showed discrepancies due the Post Office's faulty
Horizon accounting software. He has since become a prominent campaigner for other victims of the
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203:, which dramatized the scandal up until the conclusion of the Bates & Others v Post Office Ltd court case in 2019. He was played by
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When
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455:"Bankruptcy, prosecution and disrupted livelihoods - Postmasters tell their story | Computer Weekly"
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339:"Post Office knew legal case was likely to bankrupt Horizon IT victim, lawyer says"
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474:"Mr Bates vs The Post Office ending explained: How does the court case end?"
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417:"Post Office inquiry: Fujitsu manager called sub-postmaster 'nasty chap'"
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275:"Bankrupted Post Office Horizon victim demands answers after 17 years"
317:"'Post Office victims are still having to fight' - Lee Castleton"
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Castleton was one of seven subpostmasters to be included in the
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Castleton trained as an electrician and spent nine years in the
361:"Post Office v Castleton – a second category Abuse of Process?"
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500:"A Trip down Misery Lane: Surviving the Post Office on BBC1"
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investigation in 2009, which broke the story to the public.
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He was also one of the 555 subpostmaster involved in the
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415:Jordan, Dearbail; Race, Michael (18 January 2024).
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132:with attached residential property in
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180:Bates & Others v Post Office Ltd
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337:Sweney, Mark (21 September 2023).
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46:Former subpostmaster, electrician
453:Thomson, Rebecca (11 May 2009).
472:Hibbs, James (3 January 2024).
315:Mistry, Pritti (22 July 2024).
296:[2007] EWHC 5 (QB)
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498:Wallis, Nick (22 July 2024).
359:Wallis, Nick (5 March 2023).
245:The Great Post Office Scandal
434:Wallis, Nick (1 June 2020).
16:British former Subpostmaster
292:Post Office Ltd v Castleton
200:Mr Bates vs The Post Office
110:British Post Office scandal
56:British Post Office scandal
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82:https://x.com/CastletonLee
247:. Bath: Bath Publishing.
212:Surviving the Post Office
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365:Post Office Scandal
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106:bankrupted
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243:(2022).
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483:24 July
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