Crown opposes ‘difficult’ Horizon appeal

The son of a Post Office sub-postmaster is to appeal against his conviction for stealing £35,000 14 years ago.

More than 700 Post Office branch managers around the UK were prosecuted from 1999 to 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as if money was missing from their shops, with many convictions since being overturned.

About 100 subpostmasters in Scotland were convicted after they were wrongly accused of embezzling money in the scandal, and First Minister Humza Yousaf has pledged to get “justice” for those involved.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred cases to the High Court over potential miscarriages of justice.

At the Appeal Court in Edinburgh, Ravinder Naga challenged a conviction for stealing £35,000 from the Post Office where his mother worked in Greenock.

He was given 300 hours of community service in February 2010 after a guilty plea at Greenock Sheriff Court, where it was said charges against Mr Naga’s mother had been dropped after the pair attended a police station and he gave a voluntary interview.

Mr Naga has lodged an appeal against the conviction, with a hearing set to go ahead later this month.

Advocate depute Brian Gill KC told the court that the Crown was “minded” to oppose Mr Naga’s appeal.

The prosecutor added: “The Crown’s position is that this is the most difficult appeal so far.”

Gerry Moynihan KC, for the Post Office, said: “The petition is not opposed. The advocate depute is correct.”

The judge, Lady Dorrian, set a procedural hearing for April 24.