In a heartening development, four courageous campaigners who fought relentlessly to expose the grave miscarriage of justice in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal have been recognised with OBEs in the 2025 New Year Honours list for their unwavering dedication to truth and justice.
Lee Castleton, Seema Misra, Chris Head and Jo Hamilton were all honoured for services to justice after years of battling to bring to light the flaws in the Horizon accounting system that wrongfully pointed to shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts, leading to hundreds of sub-postmasters being wrongly accused, and in some cases prosecuted and jailed.
A Long Road to Vindication
For the honoured campaigners, the road to clearing their names and those of their fellow victims has been long and arduous. Many had their lives torn apart when the faulty IT system incorrectly showed discrepancies in their branch accounts.
Castleton’s £25,000 “Shortfall”
Lee Castleton from Bridlington was made bankrupt when Horizon showed a £25,000 hole in his books in 2004. His harrowing story was dramatized in the acclaimed ITV series “Mr Bates vs the Post Office”. On receiving his honour, an emotional but defiant Castleton said:
“Sometimes you have to step forward and shout as loud as you can because some of our group aren’t able to do that. I’m very honoured and very proud…It’s just sad that it’s been prolonged and protracted by the other side and it would be nice to just draw a line under everything with something like this – but onwards and upwards.”
Misra’s Unjust Imprisonment
Seema Misra’s story is equally heart-wrenching. The pregnant sub-postmistress was jailed in 2005 and forced to give birth in prison after Horizon indicated a £74,000 discrepancy in her West Byfleet branch accounts. She always maintained her innocence.
“I used to say ‘God, why me?’ because I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. I laugh about it now but I came up with the answer myself – God probably wants some strong people to come forward to fight the Post Office. So it’s definitely given me a purpose in life.”
Head’s £80,000 Ordeal
At just 18, Chris Head was the youngest sub-postmaster in the country when he took over his West Bolden branch. In 2006, he was accused of theft when Horizon showed an £80,000 shortfall. Although his case was later dropped, the Post Office relentlessly pursued him through the civil courts.
On his OBE, Head reflected that it provides “another string to the bow” in pushing to resolve the many outstanding issues around compensation for the scandal’s victims.
The Battle Goes On
While the New Year Honours bring some solace and vindication, the fight for justice is far from over for the hundreds of sub-postmasters affected by the malfunctioning Horizon system. Many are still waiting for full compensation and a complete clear-out of those responsible at the Post Office.
But if the tenacity and courage of campaigners like Castleton, Misra, Head, Hamilton and the knighted lead campaigner Sir Alan Bates are anything to go by, it’s a battle they will never give up until every last victim has justice. As the late, great Maya Angelou put it: “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”
The crypto community knows this spirit of fighting against powerful odds all too well. Bitcoin itself was born from the ashes of the 2008 financial crash, a riposte to the failings and injustices baked into our legacy institutions and systems.
So as we honour these Post Office campaigners, let’s also honour that same dauntless, never-say-die spirit that pulses through the heart of crypto. Against all opposition, against all vested interests, the truth will out. Justice and a better way are possible, if we have the will to persevere. Castleton, Misra, Head and Hamilton certainly do.
