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Oldest victim of Post Office scandal awarded OBE in New Year Honours 2026

The New Year Honours List 2026 conferred an OBE on the oldest living victim of the Post Office scandal, as well as hailing members of the UK technology community

Brian McKenna
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Published: 30 Dec 2025 14:00

Betty Brown, the oldest living victim of the Post Office scandal, was awarded an OBE in the 2026 New Year Honours List.

She has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to justice by King Charles III.

Brown, 92, ran the Annfield Plain Post Office in County Durham with her late husband Oswall from 1985. But the couple were forced out in 2003, after spending more than £50,000 of their savings to cover non-existent shortfalls.

Brown told BBC Breakfast she accepted the recognition in the New Year Honours List on behalf of all the victims of the scandal.

“Every one of them should have an OBE,” she said. “Every one of them, for what they’ve [Post Office] put us through and what we have stood solid and faithful for. I did it for justice.

“You shouldn’t be getting a medal for being robbed by your own government,” she added.

In last year’s list, Jo Hamilton, who was wrongly convicted for false accounting in 2006, was awarded an OBE for services to justice, along with fellow campaigning former subpostmasters Lee Castleton, Seema Misra and Christopher Head.

Rebecca Thomson, the former Computer Weekly reporter whose investigation led to the May 2009 story that first exposed the scandal, was also rewarded with an OBE at that time.

This year’s list, the third in the reign of Charles III, saw 1,157 people receive awards. A Cabinet Office statement said the overall theme this year was communitarian in nature.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “This year’s Honours List celebrates the very best of Britain – people who put the common good ahead of themselves to strengthen communities and change lives.

“Their quiet dedication speaks to the decent, compassionate country we are proud to be. On behalf of the whole nation, thank you – and congratulations to everyone recognised today.”

Among those from the UK technology community who received awards was Daljit Singh Rehal, chief digital and information officer (CDIO) at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), who was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, one step only below knighthood, for services to technology and to public service. The former Centrica IT chief was appointed as HMRC’s CDIO in 2020, and was number two on the Computer Weekly UKtech50 list in 2025, second only to the storied Demis Hassabis, founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.

Pamela Maynard, chief artificial intelligence transformation officer at Microsoft, received an OBE for services to business and to technology. She has also featured in Computer Weekly’s annual list of the most influential women in UK technology.

And Karen Louise Blake, lately CEO of Tech Talent Charter, received an MBE for services to technology and to diversity. She figures in the Women in Tech Taskforce, launched by the UK government’s technology secretary, Liz Kendall, in December 2025.

Others from the UK technology industry community recognised include the following.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

Matthew John Brittin, former president of Google EMEA, for services to technology and to enhancing digital skills.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Philip Steven McBride, lately managing director of Thales Northern Ireland, for services to the defence industry.

Matthew Agar, strategy director at Building Digital UK, for services to digital infrastructure and broadband.

Shah Ruhul Amin, co-founder and chief architect at Onfido, for services to fintech and artificial intelligence.

Simon Grunwell, deputy director of Covert Operations Digital Exploitation, for services to public service.

Deborah Kellsey Millar, director of digital transformation at Hull College, for services to further education.

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Matthew Peter John Baker, a Cambridge-based research scientist, for services to technology and to wireless communications.

Sarah Ellis, director of creative innovation at the Royal Shakespeare Company, for services to technology in the arts.

Eric Alain Dilworth, programme manager for the Made Smarter Adoption Programme at The Growth Company, for services to business growth and digitalisation.

British Empire Medal (BEM)

Professor Simon Pearson, founding director of the Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology at the University of Lincoln, for services to agricultural innovation and education.

Dr Thomas Antony Goodman, a software engineer and event organiser from Birmingham, for services to technology in the West Midlands.

Significantly adjacent to the technology sector, Andrew John Scott, professor of economics at the London Business School and senior director of economics at the Ellison Institute of Technology, Oxford, is being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath for services to economics.

And from the broader business world, Michelle Ferguson, the director of the Confederation of British Industry Scotland, is being awarded an OBE for services to the economy. Akin Onal, founder and CEO of Mori, has also been awarded an OBE for his services to entrepreneurship.  

Honours for police officers

At another tangent to the civilian UK technology community, and from the cyber security domain in UK law enforcement, eight police officers are to receive honours, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced.

Among these are:

Gavin Webb OBE, 51, regional head of investigations, multi-threat and borders. Webb was the UK lead for Operation Cronos – an international operation in which specialist NCA officers infiltrated and seized control of LockBit’s own systems in 2024, stopping the group from carrying out further attacks and subsequently ruining their reputation in the criminal underworld. In a well-publicised and innovative move, the NCA used LockBit’s own dark website to notify users that it had been taken over by law enforcement and to publicly name LockBit’s leader. Russian national Dmitry Khoroshev, who had been so confident in his anonymity that he offered a $10m reward to anyone who could reveal his identity, was subsequently sanctioned by the UK, US and Australia.

Kay Taylor CBE, 50, director of legal services. Taylor is being recognised as “an exceptional leader who enables and inspires officers to protect the public”. Among the high-profile investigations she has supported are Operation Venetic – the UK response to the international takedown of EncroChat, an encrypted platform used by thousands of criminals to commit and plan some of the most serious crimes, from drugs and firearms supply to murder.

Fiona Nicolson MBE, 61, former team manager at the National Economic Crime Centre. Nicolson is being honoured as “a trailblazer in driving improvements across law enforcement”, which have increased seizures of criminal assets and ensured the swift return of money to victims of fraud.

Five other serving and former NCA officers, who are not being identified due to the nature of their work, also received MBEs for their services.

Graeme Biggar, NCA director-general, said: “These honours are well deserved by the officers, who have truly gone above and beyond to support victims and protect the public from the most serious and harmful crime.

“These officers represent the very best qualities of all officers working so hard across the National Crime Agency, and I am immensely proud of all that they have achieved.”  

The Cabinet Office statement noted that ethnic minority representation on the list at “higher awards” has doubled from 7% to 14%.

Read about previous New Year Honours received by technology professionals

Read more on IT for government and public sector