Somebody must have laid false information against [him], for he was arrested one morning without having done anything wrong.
So began the story of the 14-year ordeal endured by the former Sutton subpostmaster, Harjinder Butoy, arrested and charged with theft in 2007, jailed in 2008 and finally exonerated in 2021. His is a story now shamefully familiar thanks to the many experiences heard by the Post Office Inquiry. However, this line is not from a news report but belongs to Franz Kafka. Specifically, it’s the famous opening line of The Trial, which continues to resonate powerfully 100 years after the author’s death.
Generations of readers have found something deeply affecting, important and relatable in Kafka’s tale of Josef K. and his struggle against a malevolent prosecuting authority.
