Pressure was last night mounting on the Government to finally compensate all wrongly accused postmasters.
As hundreds still await a settlement, two victims yesterday said it felt like ‘a war’ trying to secure a payout, complaining the money was being received ‘in dribs and drabs’.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised hopes of a significant breakthrough as he hinted that all sub-postmasters convicted in the fiasco could soon be exonerated. So far, only a fraction have been formally cleared.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said last night: ‘This was an appalling miscarriage of justice. I am concerned that many sub-postmasters remain convicted, and I am exploring what lawful options are available to speed up and secure justice.’
The scandal is expected to be raised by MPs in Parliament this week after it was thrust into the spotlight by new ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hinted that all sub-postmasters convicted could soon be exonerated (Pictured: Mr Sunak interviewed on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg)
Alan Bates, the former postmaster turned campaigner who inspired the series and is played by Toby Jones, said: ‘This week we will see if the Government has finally woken up.’
A public inquiry into the scandal is due to resume evidence hearings this week, with witnesses for Fujitsu – the company behind the Horizon IT system – expected to appear later this month.
Most postmasters have only received interim payments from the Government rather than full financial settlements, much of which have been swallowed up by legal costs.
Only 11 out of 475 of the full and final compensation deals are believed to have been completed.
Sue Knight, a postmistress who lost everything after she was wrongly accused of theft, made an appearance as Mr Sunak was interviewed on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
She asked him: ‘What are you going to do to ensure we get fair and final compensation, not in dribs and drabs and not at a snail’s pace? Please stop making us still feel like victims.’
Mr Sunak replied: ‘Of course we want to get the money to people as quickly as possible.’
Another victim, Lee Castleton, told the programme that the £138million paid out by the Government so far paled in comparison to the £150million spent on legal fees by the wrongly accused postmasters.
Sue Knight, a postmistress who lost everything after she was wrongly accused of theft, made an appearance on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Alan Bates (pictured), is the former postmaster turned campaigner who inspired the new ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk described the scandal as an ‘appalling miscarriage of justice’
Only 93 of an estimated total of more than 700 convicted postmasters have had their convictions quashed
He said victims were ‘traumatised’ and it had felt like ‘a war’ trying to get payouts. He blamed creaking Whitehall bureaucracy for the delays, saying: ‘It’s the Government that has got to move the claims through quicker at their end and they’re just not doing it.’
A compensation scheme for postmasters who have had their fraud convictions overturned offers an upfront payment of £600,000 to settle their claim, or an interim payment of £163,000 if they wish to formally pursue the Post Office.
Since 2021, £138million has been paid out. For comparison, more than £40million compensation was paid to prisoners in the three years to December 2020, with £7million paid out to compensate injured prisoners in 2019/20 alone.
Only 93 of an estimated total of more than 700 convicted postmasters have had their convictions quashed, meaning the majority do not qualify for compensation yet.
And last night it was revealed there may be dozens more victims of the Horizon scheme due to an earlier rollout in 1995. Whitehall sources confirmed that a precursor scheme was launched in some 300 branches in the North East, the Guardian reported.
After taking part in the pilot, at least two branch managers were prosecuted despite protesting that there was a glitch in the system, said Labour MP Kevan Jones, who is a member of the advisory board overseeing compensation.
He said: ‘Amid the controversy and scandal over the Horizon system, no one from the Post Office thought to mention that they had this pilot scheme which also resulted in prosecutions. The question we have to ask is how many more have been prosecuted and how many more lives have been ruined.’
Former Cabinet minister Sir David Davis, who has long campaigned to get justice for the postmasters, last night called for the issue to be resolved urgently. He said: ‘I don’t care if this bankrupts the Post Office. If the Post Office is bankrupt, you won’t shut it down, it’s just that the State will refinance it.
‘The Post Office is behaving like a private company protecting its shareholders, which is bonkers because the shareholder is the taxpayer. What do you think the taxpayer wants to happen now? Millions of them at the moment are probably furious.’
Mr Sunak yesterday said that exonerating all postmasters was being ‘looked at’ by Mr Chalk.
Mr Chalk is understood to be looking at whether all convicted sub-postmasters should have their convictions quashed and if the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should take over the appeals process from the Post Office, which originally handled the prosecutions.
In addition to 93 successful appeals, 54 cases brought by former postmasters have failed to have convictions overturned. There are only five further cases currently before the Court of Appeal. Under current rules, the CPS can take over the handling of a private prosecution appeal if there is ‘clearly no case to answer’ or if the prosecution is ‘clearly likely to damage the interests of justice.’
The Department for Business and Trade said: ‘We have made funding available to ensure all victims of the Horizon Scandal can deservedly receive compensation and have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry to identify what happened and ensure lessons are learnt.’