Is justice going to be delivered at last for hounded post staf f ?

DOZENS of former Post Office workers wrongly convicted of fraud due to a faulty IT system came a step closer to having their names cleared yesterday.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred an unprecedented 36 cases to the Court of Appeal as potential ‘abuses of process’ for senior judges to consider.

A further three cases will be sent to the High Court.

The commission’s chairman, Helen Pitcher, said: ‘This is by some distance the largest number of cases we will ever have referred for appeal at one time.’

The postmasters were convicted, and many jailed, for stealing from their own tills in what has been described as Britain’s largest ever miscarriage of justice.

After a lengthy legal battle, it emerged the ‘missing’ money was a result of errors in the Post Office’s Horizon IT system.

Appeal judges will now consider whether prosecutors’ arguments in the cases amounted to an abuse of process and decide whether the convictions should be overturned.

Another 22 cases remain under review, taking the total number of potential wrongful convictions to 61. The prosecutions left a trail of misery in their wake, with postmasters losing their homes, suffering bankruptcy and spending time in some of Britain’s toughest jails.

Lord Arbuthnot, who has campaigned on behalf of the postmasters, said the move showed the CCRC believed the staff may have been forced to plead guilty despite doing no wrong.

‘This decision is very good news and exceptionally important,’ he said. ‘It has taken 12 years of obfuscation, delay, money-wasting and bullying even to get this far. There is clearly much more work to be done.’

Lucy Allan, Conservative MP for Telford, said: ‘Justice has been a long time coming. This is a momentous day for those who have fought for so many years to restore their good names. I hope the Court of Appeal will do whatever it can to hear these cases as soon as practicable.’

Postmasters who have fought for up to 20 years to clear their names reacted with joy to the CCRC’s decision, conveyed to them via email.

Jo Hamilton, 62, who was convicted of false accounting in 2008 after £36,000 went missing, said: ‘It’s fabulous news. When I read the email I just cried.’

Wendy Buffrey, 60, who was charged with false accounting and theft in 2010 over a £26,000 loss, added: ‘There were lots of tears this morning. It is absolutely fantastic that our names can finally be cleared.’

Janet Skinner, 49, a mother of two who was jailed for nine months, said: ‘I can’t believe it, I feel like I’ve won the lottery.’

In December, 550 postmasters – many of whom lost thousands of pounds but were not convicted of a crime – won an apology and a £58million settlement from the Post Office, although much will be eaten up by legal costs.

The Daily Mail has highlighted the scandal and campaigned to save village post offices.

Boris Johnson has promised an independent inquiry.

The case has cost the taxpayer an estimated £100million but not a single Post Office executive or Government official has faced censure.

Paula Vennells, who ran the Post Office between 2012 and 2019, left with nearly £5million in pay and bonuses. She is now the boss of an NHS Trust.

The Post Office said it would continue to support the CCRC’s work, but declined to comment on individual cases.