Where is the real Jo Hamilton from Mr Bates vs The Post Office now?

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 following the events of the show.

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. Many others are also curious about what happened to Jo Hamilton, one of the main victims in the TV series...

What happened to Jo Hamilton?

In the TV series, Jo Hamilton was shown as a victim of the Post Office scandal. Jo remortgaged her house and gave £9,000 to the Post Office so she could pay off her 'debts'. After suffering from too many financial blows at the hands of the Horizon system, Jo eventually just 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 in her village shop that she ran in South Warnborough.

Jo was then encouraged by the Post Office to plead guilty to false accounting to avoid prison time. In 2021, after the problems with the system were made public and victims grouped, 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 16th, Jo gave evidence to the Post Office Scandal Business and Trade Select Committee. Jo said that she had been 'gaslit' by the Post Office into believing the debt was her fault. "They convinced me that it was all my fault and I wasn't tech savvy at all," reported Sky News."It just makes me so angry that they'd literally gaslit me for about three years and turned me into a basket case."

She added that she felt like a criminal 'all over again' in an emotional speech as she said she was 'fighting for the group who have had virtually nothing'.

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 as she combated the idea that the government has taken their pleas for compensation seriously.

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. She explained that it was something achievable for people to focus on, but won't help those who have still been financially crippled by this ordeal.

"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.