Sir Alan Bates makes rare TV appearance to support Swansea Horizon scandal victim

Former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates will makes a rare TV appearance to support a Swansea Horizon scandal victim.

The campaigner who led the fight for justice in the British Post Office scandal will appear on Thursday night’s (March 26) episode of Car S.O.S airing on National Geographic.

The episode will see presenters Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townshend take on their very first motorbike restoration – rebuilding a cherished 1973 Triumph Bonneville for Ian Davies, 63, from Swansea.

Ian was wrongly accused of theft due to faults in the Horizon IT system, costing him his job, reputation and financial stability.

Although his name was eventually cleared, the impact of the ordeal was profound – with both his parents and his wife passing away before they could see justice done.

After suffering a stroke that left him unable to restore the bike himself, Ian was nominated by his cousin Stephan – prompting one of the most personal restorations the team has ever undertaken.

In a powerful moment, Sir Alan Bates – who led the fight for justice for hundreds of wronged sub-postmasters –  joins Tim and Fuzz to help reveal the finished bike.

Tim Shaw said: “Sir Alan has had countless requests since the scandal came to light, but he’s been very clear about stepping back from that world. That’s never been what drives him.

“But when he heard Ian’s story, it clearly struck something much deeper – this was something he felt he had to be part of.

“This wasn’t about publicity or making a statement. It was simply one person recognising another person’s experience and wanting to stand beside them – and that’s what makes it so powerful.”

He added: “What happened with Horizon is one of the most shocking miscarriages of justice in modern British history.

“When you hear what Ian has been through – losing everything, being wrongly accused, and then not having his family there to see his name cleared – it really brings home the human cost.

“We knew straight away this wasn’t just about restoring a machine – it was about restoring something that had been taken from him for years.”

Sir Alan became a central figure in exposing the Horizon scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 due to faults in the system – with devastating consequences for many.

His story reached a wider audience through the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, where he was portrayed by Toby Jones, helping to accelerate national awareness of the case.

In 2024, he was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for his services to justice, having founded the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance.

Car S.O.S airs every Thursday at 8pm on National Geographic.

Coming up later this season, Tim and Fuzz take on one of their rarest challenges yet with Lamborghini’s backing on an ultra-scarce Silhouette, create a pioneering mobile therapy vehicle from a Rover P4 in support of men’s mental health, and restore a Land Rover Defender that helped found a volunteer search-and-rescue group in Northern Ireland – returning it to service where it continues to save lives.