Former Bridlington sub-postmaster on his new legal action against the Post Office and Fujitsu

Mr Castleton has told Leonie Mellinger in her podcast, The Courage to Speak, why he’s decided to become the first of the Post Office Horizon Scandal victims to personally sue the Post Office and Fujitsu for more than £4 million in lost earnings and damages.

In 2007 Lee, who was played by Will Mellor in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, became the only sub-postmaster to be bankrupted by the Post Office in a civil action when he was ordered by the court to pay £321,000 to the Post Office.

In the interview, he brings the story up-to-date with his powerful, moving and emotional testimony to Leonie about how determined he is to ensure that those responsible for appalling treatment of the sub-postmasters are finally held legally accountable.

“I’ve stood on the cliff tops and considered death. I’ve been there, but they’re not worth it.

"That’s what you’ve got to think is they’re not worth you doing that because they deserve this end of the journey. They deserve for you to fight as long as it takes.

"Fight and fight and fight to make them have accountability. That’s what they deserve.”

Despite the assurances of justice and compensation in January 2024 by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the House Commons in the wake of the TV series, and the massive level of publicity and outrage at their treatment, Lee explains how the Post Office are still making life as difficult as possible for those who had their lives destroyed by the false accusations and why he has such powerful feelings of anger towards them.

“Prior to 2019, a group of people hid facts, lied, and made this happen. And I understand that. And to be honest, I don’t really care about them. I don’t hate them. I don’t really care. But the ones now, right now, that are causing this on people that are poorly, quite ill, victims that have come through so much and deserve to be living the best life, they’re the ones that I detest, absolutely detest because they could change this tomorrow.

“It’s costing the taxpayers huge amounts of money to fund a fight. You know, it’s warlike, absolutely warlike. It’s like being in the trenches. And they’re fighting on every single level in order to lose, because that’s what they’re doing.

“But they’re delaying and delaying and delaying so that people can’t enjoy the rest of their lives. And that’s shameful. It’s disgusting. And I hate them for it.”

Elsewhere in the podcast Lee reflects on the irony of being awarded an OBE for Services to Justice while still fighting for it, and tells Leonie about the impact of the long-running scandal on his wife and children and the others in the group of 555 sub-postmasters who featured in the Mr Bates and Others v The Post Office court case in 2019.

The Courage to Speak is published today (Monday, October 13) on all major podcast platforms, and in this special edition Lee explains why, after two decades of living in a Post Office created nightmare, he hopes to finally clear his name in court.