Western Daily Press (Saturday)
POST OFFICE APOLOGY FOR IT SCANDAL
VICTORY AGAINST CONVICTIONS:
THE Post Office has conceded appeals by former sub-postmasters to overturn convictions linked to the Horizon accounting scandal.
The company said it is not opposing 44 of the appeals in which it acted as prosecutor.
Sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting after the Horizon IT system was introduced to Post Office branches in 1999.
Post Office chairman Tim Parker said: “I am sincerely sorry on behalf of the Post Office for historical failings which seriously affected some postmasters.
“Post Office is resetting its relationship with postmasters with reforms that prevent such past events ever happening again.
“Post Office wishes to ensure that all postmasters entitled to claim civil compensation because of their convictions being overturned are recompensed as quickly as possible.
“Therefore, we are considering the best process for doing that.”
In addition to full co-operation with the Criminal Cases Review Commission’s review, the Post Office said it has set up an extensive disclosure exercise, by external criminal law specialists, to identify material which might affect the safety of any relevant historical prosecutions.
Solicitors acting for some of the sub-postmasters said it was a “landmark moment”.
Hudgell Solicitors, which represented 33 clients, said their convictions, which have been against the names of many for a decade or longer, will now be quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Solicitor Neil Hudgel said: “For the Post Office to concede defeat and not oppose these cases is a landmark moment, not only for these individuals but, in time, potentially hundreds of others.
“We are obviously delighted for the people we represent. Clearing their names has been their driving goal from day one, as their reputations and livelihoods were so unfairly destroyed.
“We must never forget that these people endured years of suffering and how these allegations and convictions affected not only the individuals themselves, but their loved ones too.
“We have secured what amounts to a clear admission from the Post Office that people were convicted of crimes on the basis of unsafe and unreliable evidence.”
Earlier this year the Western Daily Press reported on Nicki Arch, of Cambridge, near Dursley in Gloucestershire, who says the Post Office ruined her life after sacking her and taking her to court for a theft at Chalford Hill, near Stroud, that she did not commit. She was cleared in 2002 after a Bristol Crown Court trial.
In another case, four years after losing her husband Julian to bowel cancer, and 12 years after he was convicted of false accounting by the Post Office, 65-year-old Karen Wilson has spoken of her determination to clear his name.
We must never forget that these people endured years of suffering and how these allegations and convictions affected not only the individuals themselves, but their loved ones too SOLICITOR NEIL HUDGEL
She said Julian was “meticulous” in his running of the Post Office, which they bought in Astwood Bank, Worcestershire in 2001.
After a profitable first couple of years, he started experiencing troubles with the Horizon system.
When auditors finally arrived he was “delighted” as he believed the
issues would finally be resolved.
At the time the accounts had a shortfall in excess of £27,000, and Julian handed over nine years’ worth of accounts for the auditors to look through.
He was suspended and told his only option was to plead guilty to false accounting, as that would prevent him from going to prison.
The couple had to sell their Post Office to pay back the money which was alleged to have gone missing.
“He was given 300 hours community service and he used to have to go out cleaning graveyards with other criminals.
“It was heartbreaking seeing my husband, who had done nothing wrong, having to do that,” said Karen.
“He knew it was the system right from the start but nobody would listen. Nobody wanted to listen. I have been determined to see this through to clear his name and have his conviction overturned.”