Millie Castleton was eight when her subpostmaster father was falsely accused of theft by the Post Office. Immediately, her family were branded thieves and liars. She moved school, where she became the target of bullying for her father’s “theft”. The verbal abuse was followed by physical. Racked by stress, meanwhile, Millie’s mother developed epilepsy, and Millie began sleeping with her to be on hand when she suffered seizures. The child became depressed and self-loathing, feeling like “a burden” to her family. She won a place at university but developed anorexia and could not continue.
In her absolute gut-punch of a statement to Sir Wyn Williams’ Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, whose first report volume dropped on Tuesday morning, Millie wrote: “I fought. I tried. I am better for it … That nagging voice in my head still says ugly things sometimes. It still tells me that my past and my family’s struggle will define me, that it will be a branding on my skin forever … I’m 26 and am very conscious that I may never be able to fully commit to natural trust. But my family is still fighting. I’m still fighting, as are many hundreds still involved in the Post Office trial.”
