Another former sub postmaster dies awaiting payout

Tributes are being paid to a former sub-postmaster who has died without receiving full compensation after being wrongly convicted during the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.

Parmod Kalia, 67, ran a branch in Orpington, south-east London, for 11 years before he was accused of theft and spent six months in prison. His conviction was later overturned but he said the ordeal "broke him".

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted of fraud and theft based on faulty software, called Horizon.

Kalia, who also worked as a foster carer, was "a man who brought calmness and warmth to whatever situation he was in", his friend Tim Brentnall said.

Brentnall, a fellow former sub-postmaster, added: "Everybody was always drawn to him. He was a really kind and wonderful man. He was just such a kind mind.

"We all know what foster children are like - they've had a really difficult time - and he could see his role of just being able to give some love and stability and see these people grow and that's what was making him proud at that time."

Kalia was sentenced to six months in prison after being advised by his union representative to plead guilty to theft in 2001 and kept his conviction a secret - even from people close to him - for 15 years.

When Kalia had his conviction quashed at Southwark Crown Court in 2021, the Post Office did not oppose their appeals on the grounds that it was not in the public interest to pursue a retrial.

However, the Post Office said if there had been retrials, there was a reasonable prospect of conviction and therefore Mr Kalia was not owed full compensation for malicious prosecution.

On Friday, a group of MPs hit out at Fujitsu for being "yet to contribute a penny" to the nearly £1.5bn redress bill for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal and called for urgent action to quash pre-Horizon convictions.

Brentall said: "He was such a dignified, proud man but you could see there was this undercurrent of anger. We all have this anger of 'why has it taken so long?'

"I think of his family now who have to carry on this fight. As well as dealing with the death of a husband, a father, they've now got to deal with the Post Office scandal, to try and carry on that fight, to get him, his estate, the justice that he deserves."

A government spokesperson said: "We offer our sincere condolences to the family of Parmod Kalia.

"We are acutely aware how pressing the issue of compensation is for so many of the postmasters which is why we are striving to deliver justice as swiftly as possible."

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