A former county councillor and sub-postmaster who was jailed after the Post Office claimed money went missing from his shop has spoken of his relief after the conviction was quashed.

Dewi 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 at Siop Dewi.

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.

The week was cause for double celebration for Mr Lewis as two days before the letter, he married Mags.

Speaking to the Cambrian News, Mr Lewis said: “It is a vindication and feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, restoring my good name.

Cambrian News rag
Dewi Lewis was a Cyngor Gwynedd cabinet member when he was prosecuted by the Post Office over alleged missing money, which has since been shown to be a computer error (Cambrian News)

“I want to thank the people of Penrhyndeudraeth who have supported me since this happened.

“I continued running the shop which the post office said was failing and retired in March after 45 years.

“I also want to thank Alan Bates, Noel Thomas and the others who fought to clear sub-postmasters’ names.

“I wasn’t involved as the whole situation took a toll on my mental health, but I knew I had done nothing wrong.

“The people have been incredibly supportive of me over the years and I want to say thank you to them and I am just glad it is over and done with.”

Local MP, Liz Saville Roberts, who was a fellow cabinet member on Cyngor Gwynedd at the time, said: “I’m delighted to learn that former sub-postmaster of Penrhyndeudraeth, Dewi Lewis, has at last received a letter from the Ministry of Justice to inform him that a conviction of theft against the Post Office has been quashed.

“This letter reinstates Dewi’s good name following years of struggling under the dark shadow cast over his life by the infamous actions of Post Office senior managers who falsely accused over seven hundred sub-postmasters of theft on the basis of faults in the Horizon computer system.

“Dewi endured four months of imprisonment in 2011 and a requirement to wear a tag for another four months.

“It is of great sadness for him, however, that his parents didn’t live to see justice finally being delivered.

“I’d also like to take the opportunity to congratulate Dewi and Mags on their wedding last Tuesday, just two days before receiving the news from the MoJ. What a week of happiness after all the grim years.”

Around 900 sub-postmasters across the UK were prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information from the Horizon computer system.