Steps to clear the names of hundreds of sub-postmasters convicted in the Post Office Horizon scandal are being considered by the government.
More than 700 people were prosecuted after faulty software made it look like money was missing.
What is the Post Office scandal?
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses – an average of one a week – based on information from a computer system called Horizon.
Many maintained their innocence and said they had repeatedly raised issues with Horizon.
But some went to prison for false accounting and theft. Many were financially ruined.
After 20 years, campaigners won a legal battle to have their cases reconsidered.
A public inquiry is ongoing, but many victims are still fighting to have their convictions overturned, or to secure full compensation.
What is the Horizon system?
Horizon was introduced by the Post Office in 1999. The system was developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, for tasks like accounting and stocktaking.
Sub-postmasters complained about bugs in the system after it falsely reported shortfalls – some for many thousands of pounds.
Some attempted to plug the gap with their own money, as their contracts statedthey were responsible for any shortfalls. Many have faced bankruptcy or lost their livelihoods as a result.
What was the effect on Post Office workers?
Many former sub-postmasters and postmistresses have described how the scandal ruined their lives.
They had to cope with the long-term impact of a criminal conviction and imprisonment.
Marriages broke down, and some families believe the stress led to health conditions, addiction and premature deaths.
Watch: I’m really, really angry – postmaster gets emotional
“The past nine years have been hellish and a total nightmare. This conviction has been a cloud over my life,” said former Oxfordshire sub-postmaster Vipinchandra Patel, whose name was cleared in 2020.
Seema Misra was pregnant with her second child when she was convicted of theft and sent to jail in 2010. She said that she had been “suffering” for 15 years as a result of the saga.
Why are people talking about the Post Office scandal now?
An independent public inquiry has been examining the treatment of sub-postmasters, compensation and the Horizon system. It began in February 2021.
The Met Police has also announced a new investigation into the Post Office, over potential fraud offences.
A petition calling for former Post Office chief executive, Paula Vennells, to lose her CBE over the scandal has received more than one million signatures since the drama was broadcast.
Ms Vennells has previously said that she remains “truly sorry for the suffering caused to wrongly prosecuted sub-postmasters and their families”. She said: “I continue to fully support and focus on co-operating with the [public] inquiry.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has also faced pressure over his handling of the scandal, when he was postal affairs minister in the coalition government.
In May 2010, he refused to meet Alan Bates, the sub-postmaster who led the campaign to expose the scandal, saying he did not believe it “would serve any purpose”. The pair later met in October 2010.
Will convictions be quashed?
To date, a total of 93 convictions have been overturned. This included 39 postmasters’ convictions being quashed in a single ruling at the Court of Appeal in April 2021.
The judges said the convictions were also “an affront to the public conscience”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said all cases need to be revisited and has called for prosecution powers to be taken away from the Post Office.
The Post Office had the power in England and Wales to decide on bringing the original prosecutions, and its lawyers presented evidence in court. The situation is different in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.
Are people going to get compensation?
There has been concern that the process of getting compensation to victims has been far too slow.
Of the 93 convictions that have been overturned, only 30 of those people have agreed “full and final settlements”.
The government has previously said Post Office workers who have had wrongful convictions for theft and false accounting overturned are to be offered £600,000 each in compensation.
Some 54 cases have resulted in convictions being upheld, people being refused permission to appeal, or people withdrawing from the process, according to the Post Office.
The amount of payments for full and final compensation paid out to victims stands at £17.3m.
