Wednesday’s (March 4) edition of the hit BBC programme was hosted by Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson, who updated viewers on the latest news from across the UK and around the world.
They were joined in the studio by Carol Kirkwood, who presented regular weather forecasts, while John Watson handled the sports segment. Meanwhile, Peter Ruddick shared highlights from the Chancellor’s recent spring statement.
Later in the show, Sally and Ben shared a heartbreaking story of a sub postmaster who was wrongfully convicted in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. Tom Millward has now had his conviction quashed, eight years after his death.
Sally explained: “[He] was accused of stealing £5,000, convicted of false accounting, and forced to move his young family into a static caravan to live.”
Tom’s daughter, Isobel Saunders, emotionally spoke to reporter Debbie Tubby in a pre-recorded segment.
“Tom Millward’s daughter finally has the letter she’s been waiting for and campaigning for – The Ministry of Justice quashing her father’s conviction. But it’s been delivered all too late, eight years after he died from cancer,” Debbie said.
Tom died in 2018, just one year before the scandal reached a turning point. “He never got to see that he was innocent, and never got to know that other people would know that he was innocent,” Isobel said.
Reflecting on her dad’s change in behaviour after his conviction, Isobel continued: “I think there was a lot of internalised shame. He stopped talking, he just became very, very quiet to us and to the family as well.”
Tom tried balancing the books on the Post Office Horizon computer system by cashing in his life insurance and re-mortgaging their home.
After watching the hit ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Tom’s wife, Margaret, realised that her late spouse wasn’t the “only one” affected. She sadly passed away last year.
Isobel soon became emotional as she continued speaking about her father’s struggles. “Sorry,” she said, as she tried to compose herself.
She went on: “We had decided a little bit, sort of feeling-wise, that it probably was this that had happened, [but] it’s different to know. To have that confirmed by the Ministry of Justice really meant a lot.”
Isobel concluded: “I’m angry [at] the people at the top, who knew about it. Fair enough, honest mistake, fine. But once they knew and carried on, I think that’s the bit that makes me angry.”
In a statement, the Post Office chairman says he wants to make a “clear and unequivocal apology” to everyone affected by the scandal.
BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am
