I was jailed while pregnant for the Post Office scandal

Deputy headmistress Seema Misra was eight weeks pregnant with her second child when she was jailed over the flawed Horizon system, a sentence which then Post Office director-general David Smith described as ” brilliant news’ in an email to colleagues in 2010. Fourteen years later, Ms Misra’s conviction has been overturned and during the inquest in April, Smith publicly apologized to her for the email, which she admitted that it was “badly thought out”.

Ms Misra, however, rejects these “empty words”. “The apology means nothing, to be honest,” she says. “We’ve been through this for so long and no one has ever come knocking on my door and apologized.

“Only now that they are in the media, with the nation watching, do they have to apologise. They don’t mean it; it has become a kind of ritual.

“You know when someone says sorry for something and you feel it in your heart? I’ve never felt that way. So, until then, I won’t accept an apology.”

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As for what she thinks needs to happen next, Ms Misra, who is based in Surrey, wants those responsible to be held accountable.

“We will not rest until the guilty are behind bars,” he says. “They were very quick to send me to prison, so for now it seems to be a land of two laws: one for the common person and one for the powerful. Proper accountability will bring some peace of mind.”

Mrs. Misra was speaking i at the Women of the Year awards in London, where she and her fellow deputy postmasters were recognized for their collective efforts in campaigning for justice for all those wrongly convicted in the Post Office scandal.

More than 700 post office operators were convicted through tests on the Horizon computer system, with around 100 of these so far overturned. Sixty of the victims of the scandal died before finding justice; at least four committed suicide.

Ms Misra says she could have been one of them. “If I hadn’t been pregnant, I would have killed myself,” she admits. “Going to prison, I couldn’t bring my family this shame. The local newspaper described me as a ‘pregnant thief who cut off pensioners,’ and my husband was beaten three times for it. Friends they stopped talking to us. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

Ms Misra and her husband, Davinder, had been trying to conceive for almost a decade before she found out she was pregnant during her trial. “I always try to find a reason for everything, and I think someone up there knew what was coming,” he says. “They let me get pregnant to keep me here; they knew that was the only reason I would stay. And maybe God wanted some strong kids to step up and help me fight the post office.”

It was her eldest son’s 10th birthday when she was sent to prison. “I dropped him off at school in the morning and told him we’ll celebrate in the evening, because I have faith in the system,” he says.

“I didn’t take a bag, because I thought: why should I send someone to prison for a crime they never committed? I really thought I would come back.

“When they said ‘imprisonment’, I completely lost it. If I could tell the truth and still be imprisoned, I realized that anything is possible in this world.”

Ms Misra, now 47, served four-and-a-half months in Bronzefield Prison and was still wearing an electronic tag when she gave birth to her second child.

As well as the ongoing Post Office investigation, which is due to conclude later this year, the scandal has been brought to light by ITV. Mr. Bates v. Post Office.

“Since the drama came out, the support has been immense,” says Ms Misra. “It seems like the whole nation has gotten behind us. When I’ve been down, it’s really meant a lot.”

The mutual support of fellow deputy postmasters has also been vital. “Every time we see each other, it’s like a family reunion,” she says. “But we also have several WhatsApp groups, so you can always talk to someone who innately understands what you’re feeling. We have such a deep bond and feel so connected.”

Looking ahead, Ms. Misra isn’t sure what she wants to do next, but she knows she wants to help others. “Maybe it will be something to do with supporting people who are going through dark days,” he says.

Meanwhile, one thing is certain is that we must not stop talking about the Correus scandal; it must not be allowed to fall by the wayside of public attention, not until full justice has been served for all victims. As she says, “The fight still goes on.”