'Huge privilege' to paint jailed Post Office victim

An artist who has painted a victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal as a part of a BBC TV series says the story could only be told through hidden layers.

Seema Misra who ran a post office in West Byfleet, Surrey, was wrongly sent to prison while pregnant during the IT scandal.

Jack Dickson from Blandford, Dorset, said as the Extraordinary Portraits artwork was for all the victims the only way he could create it was through many layers.

He said "you won't see the whole story in the picture...but there's all sorts of stuff behind it" and added it was a "huge privilege" to create the portrait of such an "incredible" person.

Dickson said: "In the case of Seema you are painting for hundreds of people. It is very much for all the victims of the post office scandal.

"So that has to get into the process somehow but you can't paint that entire story that is impossible.

"So I put stuff on and then covered it up and told the story... but you won't see the whole story in the picture - it's under layers - there's all sorts of stuff behind.

"That's the only way I could approach it."

All of the portraits from this series will be on display at a free exhibition at The Loading Bay in Bradford from Friday 1 May.

Once that's finished, Dickson is hoping to look for venues in the south to exhibit the portrait.

Misra was jailed for 15 months in 2010 after being accused of stealing £74,000 from her Post Office branch.

She was sent to Bronzefield prison on the day of her eldest son's 10th birthday.

In April 2025 she was one of four leading campaigners to receive an OBE for their service to justice at Windsor Castle.

Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey is available on BBC iPlayer.