Court bid to clear Shrewsbury postmistress's name

Rubbina Shaheen, who kept Greenfields Post Office in Shrewsbury, is one of dozens of sub-postmasters across the country who claim to have been wrongly accused of false accounting or theft because of glitches with the Post Office's controversial Horizon computer system.

Mrs Shaheen is part of a group which has now begun proceedings against Post Office in the High Court with a view to securing compensation.

Justice For The Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA), which represents post office managers who claim they have been falsely accused, has instructed Freeth's solicitors to handle the case.

They say that glitches with the Post Office's Horizon computer system, which records all transactions carried out by staff, caused the discrepancies to appear.

Mrs Shaheen, who is now 50, was sentenced to 12 months in jail for false accounting when she appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court in 2010.

She was released after three months.

Mrs Shaheen was initially charged with the theft of more than £43,269 following discrepancies in the branch's finances.

The Post Office agreed to drop the theft charge as part of a plea bargain which saw her plead guilty to the lesser charge of false accounting.

Post Office communications officer Melanie Corfield said she was waiting to hear what the basis of the claim would be.

"The solicitors have not yet set out the basis of any claim to Post Office," she said.

Mrs Shaheen said she and husband Mohamed were forced to live in a van after losing their business and home as a result of the prosecution.

The couple said they had both considered suicide and had suffered serious health problems as a result of the case.

"Buying the post office was the worst thing that ever happened to us in our life," said Mrs Shahneen.

"I've got to fight to clear my name, it's all I can do now, I will do whatever it takes.

"We've lost everything."