The number of convictions linked to a second Post Office IT scandal being examined by the miscarriages of justice watchdog has more than doubled.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is now looking at 27 cases related to Capture, a faulty IT system rolled out to thousands of branches in the 1990s before the notorious Horizon software, Sky News reports.
Two cases are criminal convictions in which Capture appears to have been a factor, while 25 more convictions are being reviewed to determine if the system played a part.
Eight cases had previously been referred to the CCRC, with the Government launching a compensation scheme for former sub-postmasters and their families who lost jobs, homes and handed over large sums of money to the Post Office.
But the true scale of the Capture scandal could be much larger.
An investigation by The i Paper last year revealing how private prosecutions carried out by the Post Office soared following the introduction of Capture in 1992, with more than 200 in just three years.
It came after months of reporting by The i Paper on Capture, the IT system rolled out between 1992 and 1999 which was prone to bugs and glitches and caused losses for sub-postmasters when trying to balance their books.
Sub-postmasters with criminal convictions will not have them overturned en masse via parliamentary legislation, as has happened with cases linked to Horizon in a scandal that saw more than 900 sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted.
Instead, the Government wants the CCRC, the independent body which handles miscarriages of justice, to take Capture cases to the Court of Appeal as soon as possible.
Sub-postmasters with criminal convictions will be unable to get compensation until they are overturned, with Steve Marston, 69, among them.
Mr Marston says he was pressured into pleading guilty to criminal offences of theft and false accounting after auditors claimed around £79,000 was missing from the books at his branch in Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, in 1998.
He claims he “never stole a penny” but started suffering accounting problems when the Post Office rolled out its first IT system Capture in the 90s.
On Thursday, he and other sub-postmasters who were pursued by the Post Office over Capture will meet with representatives from the Department for Business and Trade to discuss compensation.
Mr Marston said he wasn’t surprised that the CCRC was now looking at more convictions, but believes the true number of victims is higher.
“There’s going to be a lot more people that are either unwilling to come forward or really just don’t want to dig it all back up again,” he said.
The Government announced in December that they will be setting up a redress scheme for Capture victims, similar to Horizon.
Mr Marston hit out at the length of time it was taking to acquire compensation and called for the Government to overturn Capture convictions as it had done with Horizon victims.
“I think it’s taking too long. When I first started this, I was 67 January last year. I’m 69 now and time’s just disappearing,” he said.
“It’s looking less and less likely that anything will happen on, you know, properly, if you like, until towards the end of the year.
“That’s going to be another year gone. I’m going to be going into 70 so it’s not just about myself. Obviously, I’m pretty concerned about all the others. And the age group of the people involved.
“There’s people in the seventies. It’s this age group where people are beginning to die off.”
The pain caused to sub-postmasters convicted over Capture was the same as that experienced by victims of Horizon, he added.
“The destroyed lives, bankruptcy, the anguish and suffering, everything’s identical, except for the software,” he said.
“They rushed that through to Horizon did a massive exoneration and set up the compensation as quick as it could. So I really don’t see why they couldn’t do the same for us.”
Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, said there was a “strong case” to consider a blanket amnesty.
No 10 has not ruled out a blanket pardon but cautioned this case will not be “the same necessarily as Horizon”, arguing there is a degree of nuance.
A CCRC spokesperson said: “We have considered the cases included in the Kroll report and are reviewing two of these where there were criminal convictions in England and Wales in which Capture appears to have been a factor.
“We are currently reviewing a further 25 cases to determine whether Capture played a part in the convictions.
“We continue to liaise with the Department for Business and Trade and the Post Office to identify other cases in which Capture could have played a part.
“Reviewing criminal cases dating back several decades can be particularly challenging for a number of reasons, including the scant documentation that remains available. However, we would encourage anyone who believes that their criminal conviction, or that of a relative, might have been affected by the Capture system to make contact with us.”
Comments
Leave a Comment