The widow of a former sub-postmaster has declared her husband would still be alive today if the Post Office had paid him the compensation he was owed for the Horizon IT scandal. Jonathan Armstrong, 58, died in October from a heart attack, having never received his full financial redress after being falsely accused of theft.
A Life Shattered by False Accusations
Jonathan Armstrong, known as Jono, and his wife Sarah moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2004. A qualified accountant, he became a sub-postmaster in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, in 2006. They transformed their branch, quadrupling sales and winning the Post Office Retailer award in 2014. However, their lives unravelled due to unexplained shortfalls generated by the faulty Horizon accounting software.
The "constant cycle of stress" after being wrongly accused of stealing took a devastating toll on Jono's health. In 2014, on the day auditors arrived at his branch, he attempted to take his own life. His daughter Becky found him, and emergency services saved him. He was one of at least 10 sub-postmasters known to have attempted suicide linked to the scandal.
Jono was sectioned and spent nearly a month in hospital, followed by six weeks in supervised care. His contract was terminated, and the family faced a local backlash from people who believed he had stolen money. Sarah described him as a "broken man" who suffered from anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and exacerbated diabetes.
A Family's Fight for Justice and Survival
To prevent Jono from being prosecuted, Sarah took over as sub-postmaster and accepted liability for £43,000 of so-called losses. Soon, she faced unexplained shortfalls too. Their daughter Becky, then a university student, dropped out to help run the shop, constantly worrying her father would attempt suicide again.
The family managed to sell the business in 2015 and moved to Gloucestershire. Jono submitted a claim for compensation, but an offer made two years later was under a third of what he had claimed. He rejected it. Gathering new evidence, including medical reports, took a further two years to resubmit. In April 2024, after a seven-month wait, his case was moved into the HSSA appeals process run by the Department for Business and Trade.
He died in October 2024, just days before his 34th wedding anniversary, without knowing the outcome. He had received an interim payment, used to buy a small caravan in a holiday park near Cirencester where Sarah still lives.
'He Deserved So Much Better'
Sarah Armstrong is now looking into claiming damages against the Post Office for her husband's death. She told the BBC: "I truly believe that if we'd been paid out five years ago, he would still be here. If he'd had that compensation, I think he would have been OK."
She said Jono was obsessed with securing full redress not just for vindication, but to start a new life with a permanent home and garden, "somewhere in the sunshine." He felt England had not been kind to him.
Daughter Becky, 33, part of the Lost Chances campaign group for affected families' adult children, said: "He died without knowing, and that's heartbreaking to us, because he deserved so much better." She revealed her father had chosen music for her upcoming wedding, including a 'daddy dance', but she lost him weeks later and wedding planning has stopped. "I'm heartbroken he's not here to walk me down the aisle," she said.
The Armstrongs have since received what their solicitor calls a significantly improved offer, which they are considering. A Post Office spokesperson said they were "sincerely sorry" to hear of Mr Armstrong's death. A government spokesperson offered condolences and said they were "striving to deliver justice as swiftly as possible."
