Honorary doctorate for postal campaigner Sir Alan Bates

Sir Alan Bates will receive an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work to get justice for wrongfully convicted postmasters.

Coventry University will award the doctorate next week in recognition of its efforts to clear the names of those accused of theft and fraud.

He founded the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) and in 2017 brought a High Court class action with 500 others to expose irregularities in the Post Office’s Horizon accounting system.

Newly knighted Sir Alan, 69, will join students for a ceremony at Coventry Cathedral where he will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws.

“I didn’t expect that and it was a surprise. My other half asked me “are you going to accept this?” and I said, ‘I think I will,’ because I turned down a lot of things,” he said.

“However, it’s not about me – it’s about the group, what happened and what needs to happen now.”

The university’s vice-chancellor, Professor John Latham, said Sir Alan epitomized the qualities the institution seeks to instil in its students – including passion, dedication and determination.

“Sir Alan has for some time spent the last 20 years fighting one of the greatest injustices seen in this country.

“He did this tirelessly, selflessly and without wanting to take credit – he simply wanted to do the right thing for hundreds of people who were wronged,” he said.

“Our students should look up to Sir Alan and feel inspired to achieve the same levels of resilience, leadership and collaboration with others.”