'Ripple effect of trauma' after Post Office scandal

The daughter of a former East Sussex sub-postmaster caught up in the Post Office scandal says there is a "ripple effect" of trauma for the families of those involved.

Becky Armstrong, 34, is set to seek compensation through a scheme for family members.

Hundreds were impacted because of incorrect information from the Horizon computer system which wrongly stated money was missing from branch accounts.

A government spokesperson said they were "committed to continuously improving" support for postmasters and their families, and to ensuring "full and fair redress is paid as quickly as possible".

Warning - this story contains discussion of suicide and suicidal thoughts

Armstrong's parents were wrongly told they were tens of thousands of pounds in debt while running the Windmill Drive Post Office in Bexhill.

She said her parents were dealing with the false accusations between 2006 and 2015, and she dropped out of university to support her family.

"I missed out on a lot of things that kids should have been doing," she said.

"It's still affecting my life, and the mental scars haven't gone away."

She said the stress of the ordeal contributed to her father Jono Armstrong's deteriorating mental health, culminating in an attempt to take his own life in 2014, on the day auditors came to visit his branch.

Armstrong drove to find him before he was saved by emergency services.

"That was the worst drive of my life," she revealed. "I didn't know if he'd done it yet, I didn't know if he'd gone."

The Post Office Inquiry found that more than 13 sub-postmasters may have taken their own lives.

Armstrong's mother had to take over as sub-postmistress before selling it in 2015 to repay what they were wrongly told they owed.

She remembered the community "turning on the family".

"A lot of customers saw us growing up and were lovely," she said. "But as soon as the story came out everyone believed it.

"They threw bricks through the windows, spat at us on the street and avoided us."

The family moved to Gloucestershire to try to move on, but have spent years pursuing compensation.

Jono died from a heart attack in October 2025 aged 58, which the family blamed on the stress of dealing with the false accusations and defending his family.

Armstrong said he passed away before receiving full compensation for what he had endured.

She and her fiance Brandon are set to get married next year and her father had helped them choose the venue.

"I'm sad that I won't have him to walk me down the aisle when he should have been in a position to do so," she said.

"I'm mostly sad because he didn't get to see justice. I want to fight for that."

Armstrong's mother Sarah added: "I'm heartbroken this had happened to my children, they shouldn't have had to start their lives with this burden."

The Horizon Family Members Redress Scheme has now been established for close family of postmasters and mistresses who are existing Horizon claimants.

Armstrong is set to put in a claim supported by solicitors.

"I was traumatised and my parents were traumatised," she said. "That trauma hasn't gone away, no amount of money would make me feel better," she said.

"It's not about the money, it's about the principle. We were right, we lived through it and someone needs to be held accountable.

"Reliving it all will take its toll on me, but justice for dad and my family outweigh that for now."

A Post Office spokesperson said they offered a "clear and unequivocal apology to everyone affected by this scandal".

They added the Horizon scandal "was not a single event" and for more than two decades, a series of decisions "caused serious harm to many people".

"Post Office did not listen to postmasters like Mr Armstrong and, as an organisation, we let them down," they added.

"More than £1.67bn has now been paid in redress, and we are taking part in a restorative justice programme to help those harmed heal."

A Government spokesperson said: "The Horizon scandal caused immeasurable harm - not just to the postmasters wrongly accused of crimes, but to their families who stood beside and suffered alongside them."

They added they did not comment on individual cases but were working with claimants and legal representatives.

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