The Post Office in Scotland allegedly continued to pursue two sisters for a £34,000 shortfall despite a criminal trial being ruled out over faulty computer evidence, according to the BBC. The shortfall had been caused by false accounting shortfalls caused by glitches in the Horizon computer system, which was developed by Fujitsu and has been implicated in more than 700 wrongful convictions across the UK – of which 60 are in Scotland.
The sisters, Jacquie El Kasaby and Rose Stewart, were not informed of the reason for the failed prosecution but were still threatened with debt collectors if they did not pay. They eventually agreed to pay £10,000 to settle the debt despite being innocent. The pair had been fired from their jobs at Gorbals Post Office and had faced serious mental health problems in the aftermath.
Internal Post Office documents obtained by the BBC suggest that the organisation sought to “avoid unfortunate developments north of the border” and hired Scottish law firm BTO to review previously prosecuted cases. The firm concluded that no further review was needed.
Last year, more than 70 people in Scotland were invited to apply to have their convictions quashed, including Caren Lorimer who died without being able to clear her name. In 2019, 555 postmasters won a landmark victory in the English courts against the Post Office.
The Post Office has reportedly declined to comment on the allegations made by the BBC programme Disclosure
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