By Jessica Frank-Keyes
The government is “looking at” the option of exonerating all postmasters affected by the Post Office Horizon scandal, while the Met Police have announced a probe into “potential fraud”.
Justice secretary Alex Chalk is looking into the possibility of removing the Post Office from the appeals process and handing it over to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), The Sunday Times reported, amid an ongoing public inquiry and fresh outcry.
It comes as a petition to strip Paula Vennells, former Post Office chief executive from 2012 to 2019, of her CBE reached almost 900,000 signatures on Sunday.
The scandal, called the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, has made renewed headlines following the airing of ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, starring Toby Jones.
More than 700 Post Office managers were handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software Horizon made it appear that money was missing from accounts.
The consequences for those impacted were devastating. Many lost their jobs, homes and friends whilst undergoing legal battles.
Detectives are now looking into “potential fraud offences”, such as money being “recovered from sub-postmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions”, the Met Police confirmed.
The force has been investigating possible perjury and perversion of the course of justice related to the Post Office’s investigations and prosecutions. No arrests have been made.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Rishi Sunak described the crisis as an “appalling miscarriage of justice”.
Asked about the Sunday Times report, and whether all Post Office sub-postmasters and mistresses could be exonerated, he confirmed Chalk was assessing “the things that you’ve described”.
Referring to the drama, Sunak said: “Everyone has been shocked by watching what they have done over the past few days and beyond and it is an appalling miscarriage of justice.”
The Prime Minister added: “Actually seeing it and hearing about it again just shows what an appalling miscarriages of justice it is for everyone affected… it’s important that those people now get the justice they deserve, and that’s what the compensation schemes are about.”
The Government has set up three compensation schemes for those affected – but Post Office campaigners say money has been slow to reach victims and some have died before receiving anything.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told LBC Radio last week that many of those affected “had severe mental and health issues as a result”.
He said: “Compensation has been set aside for them. It should have been paid in December. The Treasury has put the money aside, so it’s not unavailable, but it hasn’t all been paid. So of course those involved should be held to account, but I say to the government now: ‘Get on with it. Do at least that bit right.’”
Former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton told the BBC victims were “traumatised” and the compensation scheme should be taken away from the organisations currently running it.
He said that “a completely isolated, separate review and compensation scheme just makes more sense”.
Castleton, who went bankrupt after being pursued for hundreds of thousands of pounds via the courts, added: “This is not just a computer issue, this is a people issue. People took people to court. People made decisions on faulty data that they probably knew was faulty.”
