In the wake of the Post Office Horizon scandal, ministers will be meeting to discuss ways to clear the names of hundreds of convicted sub-postmasters. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and the minister for the Post Office, Kevin Hollinrake, will be holding talks on Monday to consider measures that can be taken. The Post Office, which is wholly-owned by the government, prosecuted over 700 branch managers between 1999 and 2015 for false accounting, fraud and theft based on faulty software.
This has been called the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history, with numerous sub-postmasters wrongfully imprisoned or financially ruined as a result. While fewer than 100 people have had their convictions quashed so far, many more are still fighting to have them overturned or to receive full compensation for the shortfalls caused by the Horizon accounting software.
The ITV drama mini-series Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story brought the issue back into the public eye earlier this year. Following renewed anger and headlines, the meeting between Mr Chalk and Mr Hollinrake has been brought forward by a week. There have been concerns within the government that the process of quashing convictions and compensating victims has been moving too slowly.
Previous to the meeting, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke out, stating that it was essential to find every possible way to address the wrongful treatment of sub-postmasters and to make it right for them. He also promised a review of options, including the removal of the Post Office’s role in the appeal process. While the Post Office had the power to decide on prosecuting sub-postmasters and appointed its own lawyers to present evidence in court, the Crown Prosecution Service and its own lawyers may step in as appeals continue to be heard
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