Ministers to meet to consider clearing hundreds of sub-postmasters amid claims 'dozens more were wrongly prosecuted'

8 January 2024, 06:00

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Ministers are set to meet today to looking into clearing the names of hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted in the Post Office scandal.

Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, is expected to meet the minister for the Post Offfice, Kevin Hollinrake, on Monday.

It comes after claims that the Post Office could have wrongly prosecuted dozens more operators due to the faulty Horizon system.

The scandal came about after more than 700 branch managers were convicted of false accounting, theft and fraud based on faulty software.

The Post Office acted as a prosecutor as it brought cases against sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015, leaving many wrongfully imprisoned.

Others were left in a financial mess and some have died.

Whitehall sources talking to the Guardian have now confirmed that a previous rollout to the Horizon computer system in 1995 and 1996 resulted in branch managers being prosecuted.

A senior Labour MP told the newspaper that two subpostmasters were prosecuted - but protested their innocence saying that there had been a glitch in the system.

Outrage at the prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters has been building since ITV began airing its drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, but a campaign has been running for years to clear their names.

Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday that justice secretary Alex Chalk is trying to find a way to speed up that process - potentially by removing the Post Office from the appeals process.

"It wouldn't be right to pre-empt that process, obviously there's legal complexity in all of those things," Mr Sunak said.

"It's right we find every which way we can do to try and make this right for these people who were wrongfully treated at the time.

"Compensation is a part of that but there may be legal things that may be possible as well, and that's what the justice secretary is looking at."

The Post Office has tried to oppose a number of attempts at exoneration in recent years.

This could see the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) take over, making it easier to get those convictions cleared.

The Sunday Times was told Mr Chalk has concerns about arms-length bodies using private prosecutions.

He is also worried about the low rate of successful appeals by sub-postmasters.

But there are fears that with the CPS being independent of government he could not order it to wade in, and dozens of appeals would still remain in the hands of prosecutors even if the CPS took over.

That makes it less likely a blanket quashing of convictions would happen, despite growing public anger and calls from MPs and campaigners.

Janet Skinner, a former postmistress who was falsely accused of stealing nearly £60,000 from her Post Office in Hull - before her conviction was repealed in 2021 - said of Ms Vennells' CBE: That's supposed to be in recognition for doing good. She's far from doing good."

She told LBC's David Lammy: "A lot of prosecutions didn't happen on her watch, but it clearly states in [a] 2015 select committee hearing she was the CEO and the buck stops with her.

"At that time, they were aware of the issues with Horizon. She could've put a stop to that, but she didn't."

Metropolitan Police detectives are also looking at "potential fraud offences" committed during the scandal.