Sunak: Government looking at exonerating all postmasters involved in Horizon scandal

The Prime Minister tells Laura Kuenssberg that he wants people to receive compensation as soon as possible – JEFF OVERS/AFP

The Government is “looking at” the option of exonerating all postmasters involved in the Horizon scandal, the Prime Minister has said.

Rishi Sunak confirmed that the Post Office could also be stripped of its role in the appeals of those who have been wrongly convicted.

More than 700 sub-postmasters were convicted between 1999 and 2015 after Horizon, a faulty Fujitsu accounting system, made it seem as though money was missing from their businesses.

Only 93 convictions have been overturned since it emerged the system was defective. An ITV drama about the scandal which finished last week has prompted fresh political pressure as well as calls for Paula Vennells, a former Post Office chief executive, to lose her CBE.

The Sunday Times reported that Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, is examining whether all sub-postmasters affected should have their convictions quashed, and if the Crown Prosecutions Service (CPS) should take over the appeals process from the Post Office.

No deadline set for compensation

Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg whether he would exonerate “everybody” or remove the Post Office’s ability to prosecute, Mr Sunak replied: “The Justice Secretary is looking at the things that you’ve described.

“It wouldn’t be right to pre-empt that process. Obviously there’s legal complexity in all of those things, but he is looking at exactly those areas. It’s right that we find every which way we can, to try and make this right for the people who were so wrongfully treated at the time.

“Compensation is a part of that, but there are legal things that may be possible as well and that’s what the Justice Secretary is potentially looking at.”

The Prime Minister refused to set a deadline for compensating all of the sub-postmasters affected but said the nation had been “shocked” by the ITV drama and said it depicted an “appalling miscarriage of justice”.

“Obviously it’s something that happened a very long time ago in the Nineties, but actually seeing it and hearing about it again just shows what an appalling miscarriage of justice it is for everyone affected.

“And it’s important that those people now get the justice they deserve, and that’s what the compensation schemes are about.”

Mr Sunak said while the Government had already paid out almost £150 million, he wanted people to receive compensation “as quickly as possible” and urged anybody who had been affected to “come forward”.

Ed Davey declined to meet sub-postmaster

Scotland Yard confirmed last week it is looking at “potential fraud offences” committed during the Horizon IT scandal, while a lawyer acting for claimants said 50 new potential victims had sought legal advice after the ITV drama aired.

The Metropolitan Police had already been examining potential offences of perjury and perverting the court of justice.

It came as The Sunday Times revealed that Sir Ed Davey – the leader of the Liberal Democrats – initially declined to meet a sub-postmaster who had raised concerns about the integrity of the IT software.

Sir Ed, who was the postal affairs minister between 2010 and 2012, told Alan Bates in May 2010 that while he did “appreciate” his concerns about the Horizon system, “I do not believe a meeting would serve any useful purpose”.

While a meeting eventually took place, Sir Ed insisted at the end of that year he would not be able to intervene in the case of Seema Misra, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being found guilty of stealing £78,000 from the post office she ran in Surrey.

In the fifth of five letters he sent to the then-minister, Mr Bates wrote: “Needless to say that having nailed your colours to the Post Office’s mast, from the JFSA [Justice For Sub-postmasters Alliance] standpoint there was little point in continuing a dialogue with you or your department at that point.”

Asked about his involvement in the scandal during a campaign event last week, Sir Ed claimed he was “deeply misled” by Post Office bosses on the Horizon scandal and went on to express “regret” for “not doing more” while in his post.

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