Law quashing convictions after Horizon scandal debated today

A LAW aimed at quashing the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters caught up in the Horizon IT scandal is being introduced by the Government today.

The proposed Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill “marks an important step forward in finally clearing” the names of hundreds of wronged branch managers who have had their lives “callously torn apart”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

The legislation will exonerate those convicted in England and Wales on the basis of the faulty Horizon

accounting software in what has been branded the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

Downing Street said that under the law, convictions will be automatically quashed if they meet the following criteria:

■ Were prosecuted by the Post Office or Crown Prosecution Service;

■ Were for offences carried out in connection with Post Office business between 1996 and 2018;

■ Were for relevant offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting;

■ Were against subpostmasters, their employees, officers, family members or direct employees of the Post Office working in a Post Office that used the Horizon system software.

Those with overturned convictions will receive an interim payment with the option of immediately taking a fixed and final offer of £600,000, according to No 10.

Mr Sunak said: “I want to pay tribute to all the postmasters who have shown such courage and perseverance in their fierce campaign for justice, and to those who tragically won’t see the justice they deserve.”

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches. The long-running saga was put in a fresh spotlight by ITV’s acclaimed drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

The Government will also bring forward “enhanced” financial redress for postmasters who, while not convicted or part of legal action against the Post Office, made good the apparent losses caused by the Horizon system from their own pockets.

They will be entitled to a fixed sum award of £75,000 through the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, Downing Street said.

Those who have already settled for less money will have their compensation topped up to this level, while people can instead choose to have their claims assessed as part of the usual scheme process, in which there is no limit to compensation.

The new Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, to be run by the Department for Business and Trade, is to open for applications “as soon as possible” once the legislation has passed. The Government hopes the Bill will become law ahead of MPs’ summer holiday.

Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake, a Yorkshire MP, said: “Postmasters have been fighting for justice for years, and I hope the introduction of today’s legislation is the light at the end of the tunnel they have been waiting for.”