The case of exonerated Penrhyndeudraeth sub-postmaster Dewi Lewis has been raised in the House of Commons.
Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts called on the UK Labour government to redouble efforts to redress the damage caused to communities caught-up in the Horizon Post Office scandal.
Raising Mr Lewis’ case in the House of Commons, the MP said: “Dewi Lewis hasn’t wanted me to raise his case in the chamber before, because he said that to have his hopes raised and then dashed would destroy him: two weeks ago, he got a letter, I am glad to say, to say that his convictions were quashed.
“But the damage that has been done to the reputation of the Post Office in rural Wales is so immense that people are no longer prepared to work in post offices.
“I welcome that the Secretary of State says that he believes the business model is no longer fit for purpose, but how can we be sure that we will have strategic planning to serve those communities that were once served so well by people like Dewi Lewis?
“The effects of the Horizon scandal and Post Office business practices are still hurting our communities.
“The Post Office provides essential services for many people, and we need assurances from the new government that these will be maintained.
“The Horizon scandal is a mess of the Post Office’s own making, but which continues to have damaging and widespread impact on communities across the UK.
“It is incumbent upon them to restore trust in the service and the first step towards that is to ensure people can access services wherever they live.”
Mr Lewis, who ran Siop Dewi in Penrhyndeudraeth, was jailed in 2011 after auditors said they had discovered a £53,000 discrepancy in the books of the village post office.
Mr Lewis, who was a senior county councillor with responsibility for the economy in Gwynedd, resigned from his role and paid back the money after his then-84-year-old father remortgaged his house.
He was handed a 16 month jail term, of which he served four months and had to wear a tag for four months.
Following the revelations of the Post Office Horizon scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters convicted of crimes they had not committed, Mr Lewis has received a letter from the Ministry of Justice, informing him that his 2011 conviction has been quashed.
