Post Office scandal: 39 Postmasters whose lives were ‘ruined’ over faulty IT theft-claims sob as convictions overturned
FORMER subpostmasters who were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting over a faulty IT system wept as their convictions were overturned today.
Thirty nine ex-Post Office workers had their names cleared by the Court of Appeal after their lives were “ruined” when they were prosecuted for stealing money in one of Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
The group lost jobs, homes and marriages after being prosecuted by the Post Office and blamed for losses in branch accounts because of a defective accounting system, the court heard.
From 2000 to 2014, 736 sub-postmasters were prosecuted based on information from the Post Office’s Horizon computer system, which was introduced in 1999.
The Post Office knew its Fujitsu-developed IT system had “faults and bugs from the earliest days of its operation”, the Court of Appeal heard last month.
Workers were jailed, and some died before being cleared, as the group demanded a public inquiry into the scandal which “destroyed” people’s lives.
‘APPALLING INJUSTICE’
Lawyers representing 42 former subpostmasters said evidence of serious defects was “concealed from the courts, prosecutors and defence”, in order to protect the Post Office “at all costs”.
Boris Johnson welcomed today’s court ruling as he spoke out against the “appalling injustice which has had a devastating impact on these families for years”.
The PM added: “Lessons should and will be learnt to ensure this never happens again.”
The convictions were referred to the court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) last year following a landmark High Court case against the Post Office.
The Post Office conceded that 39 of the 42 former subpostmasters should have their convictions overturned on the basis that “they did not or could not have a fair trial”.
But it opposed 35 of those 39 cases on a second ground of appeal, which is that the prosecutions were “an affront to the public conscience”.
At the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Friday, 39 of the former subpostmasters finally had their names cleared.
Tom Hedges, who was convicted of theft and false accounting and given a seven-month suspended sentence in 2011, opened a bottle of prosecco outside the Royal Courts of Justice after his conviction was quashed.
He said: “It’s a wonderful afternoon. When I told my mother, who’s 93, I was coming to court she said ‘get yourself down to Aldi and get some prosecco’.
CONVICTIONS QUASHED
“She said: ‘Just remember your name is Hedges not Rothschild, so get prosecco, not Bollinger!'”
Harjinder Butoy, who was convicted of theft and jailed for three years and four months in 2008, described the Post Office as “a disgrace” after his conviction was overturned.
Mr Butoy, who was a subpostmaster in Nottingham, said his conviction and imprisonment “destroyed my life for 14 years – that’s not going to be replaced”.
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice, he called for those responsible for the scandal “to be punished, seriously punished”.
He added: “They’re just bullies, that’s all they are … somebody needs to really, really sort this out and charge them for this. It can’t be pushed under the carpet now.”
It is almost impossible to describe the true impact that this scandal has had on the lives of this group of people who had their reputations and livelihoods so unfairly destroyed
Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors
Another victim of the scandal, Julian Wilson who ran a post office in Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, died before his name was cleared.
His widow Karen Wilson, 66, said: “He had cancer. He died in 2016. He was only 67. His health deteriorated after he was suspended in 2008.
“I think the stress contributed. He may have still got cancer but I think it contributed.”
She added: “I promised him I would kept on fighting. And today those judges said he was right.
“I’m not brave but this was such a massive wrong. For 13 years I have lived and breathed it. We almost lost everything.”
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME
CLEARED sub-postmaster Noel Thomas weeps with relief outside court yesterday.
The 74-year-old was jailed for nine months in 2006 for false accounting over a bogus £48,450 shortfall.
He said: “It means a lot, for my family especially and the people who have stuck by me. It has been a long, long time.”
Mr Thomas worked as a postman for 29 years before taking over a branch in Gaerwen, Anglesey, in 1994. The former county councillor added: “I lost my salary, my property, my pensions and my good name.”
Others with convictions overturned included Tom Hedges, who felt he had to quit the village of Hogsthorpe, Lincs.
In a statement, Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors, who represented 29 of the former subpostmasters, said: “It is almost impossible to describe the true impact that this scandal has had on the lives of this group of people who had their reputations and livelihoods so unfairly destroyed.
“They are honest, hard-working people who served their communities but have had to live with the stigma of being branded criminals for many years, all the while knowing they have been innocent.”
The Post Office had “failed to offer any sort of explanation” why evidence was withheld, he said.
Post Office chairman Tim Parker apologised for the scandal after today’s court ruling.
He said: “The Post Office is extremely sorry for the impact on the lives of these postmasters and their families that was caused by historical failures.
“Post Office stopped prosecutions soon after its separation from Royal Mail a decade ago and has throughout this appeals process supported the overturning of the vast majority of convictions.
“We are contacting other postmasters and Post Office workers with criminal convictions from past private Post Office prosecutions that may be affected, to assist them to appeal should they wish.”
Announcing the court’s ruling, Lord Justice Holroyde said the Post Office “knew there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon” and had a “clear duty to investigate” the system’s defects.
But the Post Office “consistently asserted that Horizon was robust and reliable” and “effectively steamrolled over any subpostmaster who sought to challenge its accuracy”, the judge added.
The Court of Appeal also allowed the appeals on the basis that their prosecutions were an affront to justice.
Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Picken and Mrs Justice Farbey, said: “Post Office Limited’s failures of investigation and disclosure were so egregious as to make the prosecution of any of the ‘Horizon cases’ an affront to the conscience of the court.”
Three of the former subpostmasters – Wendy Cousins, Stanley Fell and Neelam Hussain – had their appeals dismissed by the court.
Lord Justice Holroyde said the Court of Appeal had concluded that, in those three cases, “the reliability of Horizon data was not essential to the prosecution case and that the convictions are safe”.
