Post Office not to oppose most of postmaster convictions referred by CCRC

Post Office said it would not be opposing most of the convictions referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

The CCRC has earlier this year decided to refer the convictions of 47 sub-postmasters for appeal following the High Court verdict on the Horizon IT system used by the Post Office.

Post Office has last week formally responded to the Court of Appeal and Southwark Crown Court after its Board decided to not oppose 44 of these appeals.

The firm said it also considered the findings made in the High Court verdict and material reviewed as part of its disclosure exercise, in addition to the CCRC’s Statement of Reasons to arrive at the decision.

“I am sincerely sorry on behalf of the Post Office for historical failings which seriously affected some postmasters,” commented Tim Parker, chairman of the Post Office.

“Post Office is resetting its relationship with postmasters with reforms that prevent such past events ever happening again.”

The appeals Post Offices would not be opposing include that of Seema Misra, a sub-postmistress who was jailed for theft in 2010 while pregnant with her second child.

Commenting on the latest development, she said: “I'm so, so happy. Justice has been done. I can now proudly say my name.”

“Prison was my worst nightmare. I never thought of giving up,” she told BBC.

While judges should decide on the fate of appeals, the decision by Post Office, the prosecutor in the cases, make it almost certain that the convictions will be quashed.

The government has last week announced retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams as the chair of an independent inquiry into the Horizon accounting scandal.

Over 550 sub-postmasters challenged at the High Court the accusations of stealing by Post Office, saying the discrepancies were caused by faults in the Horizon IT system.

The High Court ruled in favour of the postmasters in December 2019, a week after Post Office and claimant sub-postmasters have agreed to settle the long-running trial.

Following the £58 million settlement, Post Office has taken several measures to ‘reset its relationship’ with postmasters.

These included the creation of new non-executive director position in its board for a serving postmaster, a scheme for current and former sub-postmasters to claim shortfalls related to previous versions of the scandal-hit computer system Horizon. The firm has appointed a new d with responsibilities including implementing claims schemes.

Post Office has also launched a consultation on the role of postmasters and its commercial partners in the development and execution of business decisions.

“We are forging a new relationship with postmasters helping them to build thriving Post Office businesses for customers and communities throughout the UK. The difficult lessons of the past are being learnt, and we are making fundamental changes to our culture, practices and operating procedures,” commented Nick Read, chief executive of Post Office.