Seema Misra, of Indian heritage, wrongly imprisoned in the UK while 8-weeks pregnant

Seema Misra, now 47, had her conviction quashed in April 2021. The Court of Appeal ruled that she had been wrongly imprisoned over 12 years ago after being accused of stealing GBP 75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey, where she was the sub-postmistress. During Thursday’s hearings for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry in London, former Post Office Managing Director David Smith apologized for a congratulatory email he sent after Ms. Misra’s conviction, acknowledging that it may have caused substantial distress to her and her family.

Despite the apology, Ms. Misra expressed her rejection and the impact of her ordeal, stating that her conviction was overturned without any previous apology. Ms. Misra served time in Bronzefield prison in south-east England and later gave birth to her second son while wearing an electronic tag. She felt used as a “test case” and was angered by the revelation that her case had been used as such, expressing her frustration with the situation.

The UK government has paid out millions in compensation to hundreds of sub-postmasters impacted by the faulty Horizon software. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged action in the historic scandal by introducing the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill and the public inquiry, expected to conclude in July, is underway. The Horizon system, developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was rolled out in 1999 to post offices for various tasks, including accounting and stocktaking.