- Bill to overturn wrongful convictions
- £600,000 interim compensation offered
- Enhanced redress for financial losses
Affected sub-post managers will also be granted interim compensation and the option to accept an immediate, fixed, and final offer of £600,000.
The government intends to introduce a law later that will overturn the erroneous convictions of sub-post managers implicated in the Horizon IT scandal.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that the proposed Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill “marks an important step forward in finally clearing” the names of hundreds of wronged branch managers whose lives have been “callously torn apart.”
Those convicted in England and Wales on the grounds of the flawed Horizon accounting software will be forgiven by the legislation, dubbed the greatest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
According to Downing Street, convictions that satisfy the following conditions will be automatically overturned under the law:
- The convictions were brought by the Crown Prosecution Service or the Post Office
- The offenses occurred between 1996 and 2018 in the course of Post Office business
- The relevant offenses included theft, fraud, and false accounting
- The individuals convicted were sub-post managers; their employees, officers, family members, or direct employees of the Post Office who were employed in a location that utilized the Horizon system software.
Individuals who have had their convictions overturned will be granted an interim payment and the choice to accept an immediate final and fixed offer of £600,000.
Legislation Seeks Justice for Postmasters
Mr. Sunak stated, “Although I am fully aware that nothing can fully atone for their ordeals, the legislation introduced today is a significant stride in the direction of ultimately expunging their names.”
It is incumbent on us to provide the long-sought-after justice that the victims of this controversy have been entitled to and to prevent a recurrence of a situation in which their lives and means of subsistence have been arbitrarily destroyed.
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted and convicted over 700 sub-post managers on criminal charges, citing a counterfeit Horizon IT system developed by Fujitsu that created the illusion of money being stolen from their branches.
ITV’s critically acclaimed drama Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office focused on the protracted saga.
Additionally, the government intends to propose “enhanced” financial redress for postmasters who, despite not being convicted or involved in legal proceedings against the Post Office, incurred personal expenses to compensate for the apparent losses due to the Horizon system.
Downing Street stated that they will be eligible to receive a fixed sum award of £75,000 via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
The compensation of those who have settled for less will be increased to this level.
Applications for the new Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, which the Department of Business and Trade will administer, will be accepted “immediately” following the passage of the legislation for individuals whose convictions have been overturned.
The government anticipates that the measure will be ratified into law with royal consent before the summer recess of Members of Parliament.
Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, stated, “It is entirely proper that we overturn the convictions that were erroneously handed down to postmasters based on faulty evidence; the Post Office’s pursuit of them is a disgrace.”
Ministers have determined that the standard course of action for individuals to navigate the courts would be excessively protracted due to the magnitude of the controversy.
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Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham and member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, stated, “I am delighted that the government has introduced the Post Office Offences Bill by the recommendations of the independent Advisory Board, of which I am a member.”
Hundreds of individuals convicted due to the Post Office Horizon IT system will be exonerated as a consequence.
This measure must be passed before the summer recess so that those impacted may receive the long-awaited redress and compensation.
