Former Portstewart Post Office subpostmaster to appear in follow-up ITV documentary 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The Impact'

Lee Williamson will appear in a follow up documentary ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The Impact’ due to air on ITV on Monday, September 9, at 9pm.

The documentary will look at what life has been like for subpostmasters like Mr Williamson in the wake of the ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ which aired in January this year and highlighted the failings of The Post Office’s automated Horizon system.

Mr Williamson took over the Post Office in Portstewart in 2003, then said he started to encounter issues with Horizon about five years later.

He started to notice shortages of £100 and in one instance a shortage of exactly £1,000.

Mr Williamson was suspended on May 22, 2012, after being blamed for a shortfall of about £16,000, then resigned later in the year, he said.

In 2014 he pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for three years.

In May of this year Mr Williamson spoke of his "joy" after Parliament backed legislation to exonerate those caught up in the Horizon scandal, and his "disgust" at those who did not "stand up and do the right thing" at the time.

At the time, he said that the ITV programme ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ was "the best gift we could have received".

Mr Williamson will appear before the Court of Appeal in Belfast on September 12 when the court will review his case.