More than 50 new appeals have been launched by former subpostmasters challenging their convictions in the Post Office Horizon cases, a law firm has revealed.
The development follows the Court of Appeal last week quashing 39 convictions by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
Hudgell Solicitors, which helped 33 former subpostmasters to clear their names through the courts so far, said 51 new appeals are already filed, and it has received more than 20 new enquires over the last weekend.
While 38 cases relating to people convicted in Crown Court were submitted direct to the Court of Appeal last week, a further 13, relating to convictions in Magistrates courts, are already with the CCRC for consideration, the firm said.
“I said outside court on Friday that the strength and significance of the Judges’ findings were such that the doors were opened for potentially hundreds of people convicted as a result of failings in the Post Office’s Horizon IT system to come forward with confidence to seek to have those convictions overturned,” Neil Hudgell, of Hudgell Solicitors, said.
“We are already well down the road with regards to supporting another 50 people through the process, having gathered evidence on their behalf and submitted their cases directly to the CCRC and the Court of Appeal.”
Hudgel said plans are in place to launch the first claims for compensation from the Post Office for malicious prosecution following the Court of Appeal ruling, adding that ‘very significant sums’ will be sought on behalf of clients.
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He also urged the government to establish a public onquiry ‘with full teeth’ to ensure all senior figures at the Post Office who had any involvement are fully questioned under the rules of evidence and held to account.
Following the High Court judgment in the long-running Horizon trial, which went against the Post Office, the government has last year lunched an independent review, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, into the scandal, but as it is a non-statutory inquiry, it has to rely on the voluntary compliance of witnesses.
“The current review which us underway is simply not sufficient enough to investigate such a huge miscarriage of justice and does not have the power to make sure serious questions don’t continue to be dodged, as they have been for almost 20 years in many cases,” Hudgel said.
“To serve its proper purpose any inquiry must have the full teeth required to ensure all people involved come under scrutiny that has been dodged until now.”
