Jo Hamilton is a key character in Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and viewers are eager to know what has happened to Jo in real life.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office has been a huge success for ITVX and for the real people who were affected by the Horizon scandal, as the public is finally aware of the full extent of the scandal and the harm it caused to the people at the centre of it. Some viewers have been left wondering, where is Suzanne Sercombe now, and where is Paula Vennells since being stripped of her CBE. And others want to know what happened to Jo Hamilton, one of the main victims in the TV series...
In the TV series, Jo Hamilton was shown as a key victim of the Post Office scandal. Jo remortaged her house and gave £9,000 to the Post Office in order to pay off her 'debts' until she eventually just had to let the figure she 'owed' grow as she couldn't afford to pay the Post Office back. She was falsely accused of stealing £36,000 from the Post Office from her village shop that she ran in South Warnborough.
Jo was then encouraged to plead guilty to false accounting in order to avoid prison time. In 2021 her conviction was overturned as she was officially found to be a victim of the Horizon scandal.
Where is the real Jo Hamilton from Mr Bates vs The Post Office now?
Fortunately, Jo Hamilton is now a recognised victim of this scandal and her name has been cleared of any wrongdoing. However is still battling with Alan Bates, a fellow victim to try and help victims of the scandal to be fully compensated for the trauma they have endured over the past two decades.
On January 9th, Jo appeared on This Morning, with her on-screen counterpart, Monica Dolan, who she complimented for retelling her story in such an accurate and thoughtful way. On the show, Jo spoke about how the show had impacted the government to - as Craig put it - fast-track justice.
"They push out all of these statements and everything and make it look like they're paying everybody, but trust me - they're not. They're not paying the group that took them on in the High Court and that's not right," said Jo.
Jo revealed that she is still waiting for complete justice and repayment for the awful scandal. She appeared on Lorraine on January 10th and spoke about how Paula Vennells handing back her CBE isn't actually helping any of the victims of the scandal.
"I think it's a bit of a sideshow because the group of us that actually took the Post Office on and won the litigation four years ago, they still have had a tiny fraction of what they're owed. They haven't actually been given back what they've given the Post Office," she said.
Jo said she felt that there were several 'distractions' from the real issue at hand which is that the people who have been affected by this scandal have still not been compensated.
