London: Hundreds of sub-postmasters, many of them of Indian-origin, were hit by a faulty IT system that accused them of stealing funds from the UK's Post Office.
Earlier this week, Justice High Fraser at the UK High Court approved a 57.8-million pounds settlement between the Post Office Ltd and more than 550 such claimants at a hearing in London.
"These claimants can now walk with their heads held high after all these years. They can now start to move on with their lives," their lawyer said in a statement.
Many of the sub-postmasters, operating as semi-independent managers of the Post Office nearly 20 years ago, have spoken out about the toll the allegations of theft, fraud and false accounting took on their lives.
They blame the faults on accounting system Horizon, which led to shortfalls in branch accounts, leading to workers being convicted of theft and many even facing jail.
Vipinchandra Patel, who had worked for the Post Office since 1987 at the village of Horspath in Oxfordshire, is among the hundreds of sub-postmasters who says his life and career was wrecked as a result of the faulty system.
"One minute I was a pillar of the community and the next I was a pariah," he told 'The Sunday Times'.
"My health was deteriorating; my wife was running the shop and was facing insults from customers, and I got a criminal record, which meant I couldn't get a job. I couldn't eat or drink because of the stress and my body started to deteriorate. I lost the zest for life and became suicidal," he said.
He was handed an 18-week suspended sentence for alleged funding shortfalls and a two-month curfew.
