LEGAL EAGLE: Post Office victims fight on to rightly clear their names

Readers may be aware of the terrible scandal which arose from the Post Office’s computer system going wrong between 1999 and 2015.

During this time, 700 Sub-Postmasters and Postmistresses were convicted in the criminal courts of false accounting and theft after the Post Office’s computer system called Horizon stated money had gone missing.

The computer system was flawed and in many cases the workers were wholly innocent. Nevertheless, during a 16-year period up to 2015 they were convicted before the courts at an average rate of one a week, and many were sent to prison.

Those who were convicted lost their employment and often suffered years of lost earnings, anguish and family breakdown. Many tried to plug the missing sums of money – which were not actually missing – out of their own pockets.

You can barely imagine the distress of running an honest Post Office counter, yet a computer system wrongly reported missing sums suggesting fraud and theft.

The news that the Government will offer a fixed sum payment of £600,000 to every person whose Post Office conviction has been overturned is an attention-grabbing headline.

For many the sum will be welcomed, enabling them to try to put matters behind them and rebuild their lives.

For others, however, the sum, while substantial, will not be accepted as it is an inadequate sum for the losses they suffered, particularly those who spent lengthy periods in prison, suffered family breakdown, psychiatric injury and years of lost earnings.

The Horizon computer system was rolled out by the Post Office nationwide.

We currently act in seeking to overturn convictions resulting from the flawed computer software, before seeking compensation.

Many convictions have yet to be challenged. Hopefully the recent publicity will encourage all victims to come forward and address the terrible injustices which occurred.

Ben Hoare Bell LLP Solicitors can be contacted on 0191 565 3112 or [email protected]