Former West Boldon postmaster warns of suicide risk during compensation 'battle'

A former West Boldon postmaster has warned the government that some vulnerable sub-postmasters could be at risk of suicide.

Chris Head, who was one of the youngest postmasters in the country when he took over the West Boldon Post Office in 2006, aged 18, issued the warning due to the slow pace of compensation payments.

It relates to the Post Office Scandal, in which postmasters were accused of fraud and theft due to failings with a faulty Horizon IT system.

Chris only experienced minor losses for the first seven years until in September 2014, when the system stated that the till was around £40,000 down. By November the shortfall had reached £88,098.

From February 2015, Christopher was questioned three times by the Post Office and his home was searched.

After five months the case was dropped, but bosses still insisted he pay the outstanding £88,098.

Chris has campaigned tirelessly for the Government to clear the victims of the scandal and to fully compensate everyone affected by it.

Throughout their campaign for justice and compensation, some postmasters went to prison and others sadly took their own lives.

NationalWorld, the parent company of the Shields Gazette, has revealed that Chris, now aged 36, met with the Post Office Minister, Kevin Hollinrake, to raise concerns around victims' mental health.

Now Chris has highlighted that he wants more safeguarding checks to be put in place when compensation is offered to those affected by the scandal.

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Speaking to NationalWorld, Chris commented: “I’m concerned about a small number of sub-postmasters.

“If you make that offer to them, not knowing that they might kill themselves.

“Some of them have gone to prison, some of them have lost their homes, some of them have family members who don’t speak to them.

“We are still a long way away from full and fair compensation - that’s just not happening.

“This is like one big war - I’m having to battle for everything.”

In January, Chris revealed to the Shields Gazette that he is still tens-of-thousands of pounds out of pocket, with the Government's GLO Compensation Scheme not going far enough to reimburse him and many others.

He has stated that he was only offered around 15% of the full amount that he had claimed for.