The forgotten postmaster ‘hounded to death’ by investigators
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Of the thirteen sub-postmasters thought to have taken their own lives because of the Post Office scandal, only two have been named publicly. Michael Mann was one of them. Our reporter has spoken to his family, former partner and ex-colleagues to tell his story for the first time.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory
Guest: Hugo Daniel, news reporter, the Sunday Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Edward Drummond and Shabnam Grewal.
Read more: The forgotten postmaster ‘hounded to death’ by investigators
Further listening: The Post Office scandal: How a TV drama delivered justice
Clips: ITV, Channel 4 News, ITV News, Horizon Inquiry.
Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:06.0 | I'm Manvien Rana. |
| 0:10.0 | It's one of the great scandals of our era, a Kafkaesque nightmare, where innocent people were accused of something they haven't done, |
| 0:20.0 | were hounded by the authorities and |
| 0:22.6 | sometimes jailed for years, all for a crime they hadn't committed. For most, the true horror |
| 0:30.6 | of the post office scandal only came to life with the ITV drama Mr Bates versus the post office. |
| 0:39.4 | There are people here who've done time. |
| 0:43.3 | We've all lost our businesses and our savings. |
| 0:48.0 | The question is, what are we going to do about it? |
| 0:53.1 | One of the most moving parts of the drama was the story of Martin Griffiths, |
| 0:58.0 | a postmaster from Cheshire who was accused of stealing a hundred thousand pounds. |
| 1:05.0 | The stress he experienced was horrific. |
| 1:08.0 | Can I talk to him? |
| 1:10.0 | Well, he won't talk to me about it even now. It drives me mad. |
| 1:15.5 | I know he's got depression. He's a proud father and I think he thinks he's failed us. Failed our family. |
| 1:25.8 | For Martin, there was no justice. |
| 1:29.2 | The stress built up and he lost hope |
| 1:32.1 | until one day, tragically, |
| 1:35.3 | he parked his car by the side of a road |
| 1:37.7 | and stepped out in front of a bus, |
| 1:41.3 | taking his own life. |
| 1:42.8 | I think that moment for a lot of people who didn't understand the post office scandal, |
... |
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