At least 13 people are believed to have committed suicide as a result of the British post office scandal, in which nearly 1,000 postal employees were wrongfully prosecuted or convicted of criminal offenses because of a faulty computer system, according to a report published Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Another 59 people considered suicide over the scandal, one of the biggest misjudgments in U.K. history. Between about 1999 and 2015, hundreds of people who worked in post offices were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false reporting based on evidence obtained because of a faulty information system.

Some went to prison or were forced to declare bankruptcy. Others have lost their homes, suffered health problems or damaged relationships, or been ostracized by society.

Retired Judge Vin Williams, who is leading a public inquiry into the scandal, said in a report released Tuesday that 13 people killed themselves because of the Post Office's faulty accounting system, which their families said showed illusory shortfalls in the offices' accounts. 

The problems at the post office, which is owned by the state but operates as a private business, have been known for years.

But the full extent of the injustice only came to light last year, when a television documentary drama about the scandal made headlines across the country and galvanized support for those affected.

The cause was the Horizon software from Japanese firm Fujitsu, which the Post Office implemented 25 years ago in branches to automate sales records. When the software revealed false account shortages, the Post Office accused branch managers of bad faith and ordered them to refund the money.

In all, the report says, about 1,000 people were prosecuted and convicted based on the incorrect data. The government has since passed a law to overturn the convictions and compensate the victims.