A SHOPKEEPER who attended the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has described feeling ‘on top of the world’ after his conviction for fraud was thrown out.

Hasmukh Shingadia, of Long Grove, Upper Bucklebury, was one of a dozen subpostmasters who saw their convictions quashed at the Court of Appeal this morning (July 19).

The 62-year-old, who used to count the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as customers of his convenience store in Upper Bucklebury, was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after being convicted of fraud by false representation in 2011.

Subpostmasters were victims of a scandal which saw the Post Office use its private prosecution powers over a 15-year period from 2000 onwards to prosecute and convict them of crimes.

READ MORE: Royal wedding shopkeeper lodges appeal to overturn conviction

It used unreliable evidence from its faulty Horizon accounting system, which showed unexplained shortfalls or discrepancies at branches across the country.

Mr Shingadia was accused of stealing £16,000 and despite his innocence, he pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation after being ‘made to feel’ that he had to.

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Despite his lack of guilt, he repaid the shortfall to the Post Office.

“I was in all the newspapers as the royal wedding guest who was a thief and a fraudster so today is massive for me and my family, but also of course the other subpostmasters who have had their convictions quashed,” he said.

“I’d seen Kate Middleton grow up and I remember her being in my shop on the day the radio was saying she was to marry William. Being a guest at the wedding meant the press focused on my case in court.

READ MORE: The shopkeeper who went to the Royal Wedding

“When I got the call from my lawyers to say the Post Office wasn’t contesting my appeal I felt on top of the world.

“Of course, I’ve known I was innocent all along, but for the past decade the legal system has labelled me a criminal, as it has so many others, and that is disgusting.

Reading Chronicle: Mr Singadia (central)Mr Singadia (central)

“It was an awful time for us when I was convicted. My mother had died the previous year, I’d had cancer and undergone surgery to remove a sarcoma, and my daughters were only young at the time and they had people telling them at school that their dad was a thief.

“I was also a magistrate at the time so that ended, I lost the Post Office and we managed to pull together £16,000 to pay the Post Office the money it alleged we had taken.

“We managed to keep hold of the shop and I carried on running it but it was difficult facing people, and my wife Chandrika found that particularly difficult.

“Thankfully, as well as those who turned their back on us, there were also around 150 people who signed a petition which a dear friend of ours, who was an ex-policeman, started to support me when I was being prosecuted.

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“I am grateful that many people in the community supported me and believed me.

“A lot of people have supported us over the years, but when all the details about the scandal of Horizon came out people couldn’t really remember what had happened other than the fact I’d been prosecuted.

“It is a long time ago for others, but for those who have lived it, it is something which is with you every day.

“What has happened to people has been appalling. Those who were in charge of the Post Office must be held to account at a Public Inquiry now, and dealt with appropriately from whatever that inquiry uncovers.”