A decade ago, Scotland’s prosecution service was made aware of possible issues surrounding the Post Office Horizon IT system. A Freedom of Information (FoI) request showed that the Crown Office learned of the potential problems in May 2013. It is believed that up to 100 cases are affected north of the border. Justice Secretary Angela Constance told MSPs the Scottish government was considering a scheme to pardon those wrongly convicted. However, Ms Constance did not know when the government first learned of the scandal.
Only two convictions in Scotland have been overturned so far. Susan Sinclair was found guilty of one charge of embezzlement in 2004, but her conviction was only overturned last year. Stuart Munro, representing Ms Sinclair, said, “why has it taken until 2023 for the first convictions in Scotland to be overturned by the appeal court?”.
Deputy Crown Agent Kenny Donnelly said that the Crown Office aimed to ensure “all miscarriages of justice resulting from unreliable evidence obtained from the Horizon system are identified and overturned”. However, the Crown Office said that only two Scottish convictions have been overturned to date, versus 93 overturned across the UK.
Kenny MacAskill, Scotland’s former justice secretary, who was in office when the Crown Office became aware of the possible issues, said that he had “no recollections” of any discussions with prosecutors at the time. Mr MacAskill added the scandal was “shameful” and that there had been a “conspiracy to silence” those affected
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