Post Office scandal victim's family in bitter dispute over 578k payout

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"Two family members of a former Post Office worker who died an alcoholic after being wrongly convicted are locked in a bitter court dispute over her 578,000 compensation payout. Dawn O'Connell, a former branch manager at Northolt between 2000 and 2008, was one of hundreds of workers wrongly convicted over the use of the Post Office's Horizon accounting software a scandal that was immortalised in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office."

"In August 2008, Ms O'Connell was given a 12-month suspended sentence at Harrow Crown Court on five charges of false accounting. Her conviction was overturned after the IT scandal later pinned down to faulty software in the Post Office's accounting system, which made it look like money was missing from the branches came to light. However, she struggled to cope with the stigma of the ordeal and suffered severe bouts of depression. She eventually succumbed to alcoholism and died, aged 57, in September 2020."

Two family members of Dawn O'Connell are locked in a bitter court dispute over a 578,000 compensation payout following her wrongful conviction linked to the Post Office's Horizon accounting software. O'Connell worked as branch manager at Northolt from 2000 to 2008 and received a 12-month suspended sentence in August 2008 on five charges of false accounting. Her conviction was later overturned after the IT scandal was traced to faulty Post Office software that created false shortfalls. She suffered stigma, severe depression, became an alcoholic, and died aged 57 in September 2020. The dispute concerns the distribution of the posthumous compensation.

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