“To be accused of stolen transformed my loving father into a ghost figure -he never returned.”

The family of sub-mast of Peter Lloyd-Holt, who was fired in 1994 after being accused of theft and fraud, believes he is a victim of a second post office

The family of a sub-postmaster “destroyed” after being accused of theft and fraud I think he was the victim of a Second Assum Office Postal IT Scandal.

Four years old Peter Lloyd-Holt was fired in 1994 after his accounts at his branch in Bolton showed unexpected deficiencies. He was interviewed by the police under caution and, although he was never criminally prosecuted, lost his job and had to pay a “considerable” amount of money.

The accusation had a devastating effect on Mr. Lloyd-Holt, who always kept his innocence, but died 75 years old in 2021, without deleting his name. His family says he changed from a “loving and careful” to a “ghost figure”.

“Before what happened, Dad was always happy and smile,” said his daughter Clare Brennan. “Then everything disappeared. To be labeled as dishonest made the father a shell of who he was.

“There was no process, no way to clear their names, but only” guilty “, even though I knew it was innocent.”

Mr. Lloyd-Holt’s family believes he was the victim of IT issues in a software program called “Capture”, which was used in the branches of the post office in the 90’s before Infaming system of horizon has been entered. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of stolen after Horizon software caused fake deficiencies in branches between 1999 and 2015.

A report last year found that there was a reasonable captivity, used from 1992 to 1999, was also responsible for accounting errors. This week, the government promised to support those who were pursued, dismissed or made to pay the alleged deficiencies more than three decades ago.

He opened the door for “potential hundreds” several victims of the post office to request exemption and compensation.

“I want to delete my father’s name,” Clare said. “I promised him before I die that I would do my best and help my mother. I think we would like to use this opportunity to delete their name with all advertising and interest.”

Mr. Lloyd-Holt’s wife, Agnes, who worked as a investigator for the work department and pensions and was also a magistrate and governor of the school, said that life was never the same after being fired from Kentmere Road, Breightmet.

“This was the beginning of the end,” she said. “We were happy 23 -year -old with four children between 10 and 19 years old and I had a busy and happy family life, but our world was shattered.

“Finally, he said in March 1995 that he would not be prosecuted, but he was still responsible for the deficiencies and that we were made to pay for a considerable amount. I had to work overtime to pay the mortgage and to pay what the mail supported because I owed them, and that meant that I had to be financially.

“Peter withdrew himself, as he did not believe why he had been accused. The false accusations completely destroyed him and lost all his confidence and was never able to keep an adequate job until his death three years ago. He thought he was a failure.

“He seriously considered suicide on an occasion, in which a close family friend had to intervene. The impact of all these things on our family was devastating. The children lost the loving and attentive father, who was replaced by a ghost that existed in a cloud.

“Peter had a strong Christian faith and was an ordinary church, but after the incident, he bent his faith and lasted something considerable before his faith returned. Although the post office appeared in those a few years before his death, he never received a person.

“The right to the end, he always bent on his own ability and that is so sad. All he wanted was to clear his name and family.”

Today (Wednesday), it has been reported that 21 cases of capture have now been presented to the Commission for the revision of criminal cases for review. Mr. Lloyd-Holt’s family is represented by Hudgell Applicors, who has already supported hundreds of victims of the Horizon scandal.

Lawyer Neil Hudgell said that there are “potential hundreds of people who have affected the capture and urged anyone who or their family have been affected.

A spokesman for the post office said: “We were very concerned about the reported problems regarding the use of the capture software and we are sorry for the past failures that have determined the suffering of the postmaster. captured. ”