Pressure is mounting against the Justice Secretary to exonerate unjustly convicted victims affected during the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds by the Post Office.
More than 700 branch managers were convicted of false accounting, theft and fraud caused by Horizon accounting software.
Rishi Sunak and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk are reportedly reviewing options into the “biggest miscarriage of justice” in British history, including stripping the Post Office of its role in the appeals process.
Between the years 1999 and 2015 the Post Office pursued branch owners across the country for alleged theftPAThe Post Office, which is wholly owned by the Government, acted as prosecutor when it brought the cases, dating back to 1999, against the accused victims.
This means that as appeals begin to be heard, the Post Office will retain a role in the lawsuits.
The Prime Minister told the BBC: “Obviously, there's legal complexity in all of those things but he [Chalk] is looking at exactly those areas that you've described.
“It is right that we find every which way we can do to try to make this right for the people who were so wrongfully treated at the time.”
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Justice Secretary Alex Chalk PAOne option could be for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take over in the stead of the Post Office.
However, Sir Bob Neill, chair of the Justice Select Committee, suggested a CPS takeover would require extra resources and have a knock-on effect on other cases.
“The Director of Public Prosecutions [Stephen Parkinson] has to take that decision themselves, they have to do it independently,” Neill said.
“I'm sure they'd look at it, they have to look at each case independently on its merits.
In 2021, Paula Vennells apologised for the 'suffering' caused after 39 subpostmasters’ convictions were overturned
PA“To do that I think you'd probably need extra resources.
“And then the final point is, of course, the Court of Appeal would have to make time to hear these cases and so there would need to be the agreement of the Ministry of Justice to make judges available and that might mean other cases going further down the queue.”
Following the release of the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, MPs will face a barrage of questions over the scandal when parliament returns from its Christmas recess tomorrow.
Have you been affected by the Horizon IT scandal? If you'd like to share your story, get in touch with money@gbnews.uk.
