The Horizon Compensation Advisory Board has reached out to the Secretary of State for Justice, pressing the government to pass legislation that would overturn convictions of subpostmasters tied to the flawed Capture system.
This influential board features notable members like peers James Arbuthnot and Kevan Jones, both of whom have tirelessly campaigned for the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal. They want the same kind of legal action that led to the reversal of wrongful convictions linked to the discredited Horizon system. In May, Parliament approved a law exonerating hundreds of subpostmasters unjustly convicted based on Horizon data, a move that gained momentum after ITV featured the scandal in a dramatization.
In January, Computer Weekly revealed that former users of the Capture software had emerged, claiming they faced prosecution for unexplained financial shortfalls. Former MP Kevan Jones, now in the House of Lords, has been at the forefront of the movement for subpostmasters who suffered due to errors in Capture, paralleling the experiences of those wronged by Horizon data.
Chris Hodges, chair of the advisory board, communicated to Shabana Mahmood MP, stating that the injustices faced by Capture victims are just as severe as those suffered by Horizon victims. “We can’t tell the difference between the suffering of Horizon victims and the Capture victims. Given their longer struggle and age, Capture victims deserve a swift response,” Hodges emphasized. He urged for rapid legislative action to nullify all Post Office-driven convictions from the Capture era.
The government commissioned Kroll, a forensic specialist, to delve into the Capture system following increasing pressure from activists and public outcry over the Horizon scandal. Kroll’s recent report indicated there’s a “reasonable likelihood” that the Capture software, used by many subpostmasters in the 1990s, caused financial discrepancies that led to wrongful blame and even prosecutions.
Hodges expressed his concerns over the findings: “We’ve reviewed the Kroll report and the distressing narratives of those affected, and the statistics around Post Office investigations during the Capture years are alarming. The conduct of Post Office management and investigations closely mirrors what happened with Horizon victims.”
Steve Marston, a former subpostmaster from Bury, Lancashire, faced a 1996 conviction for theft and false accounting after an unexplained shortfall of nearly £80,000. He noted that his accounting issues began only with the introduction of the Capture system, after running his branch smoothly since 1973. Marston has become an advocate for justice since January and recently expressed hope for the overturning of his conviction soon.
The Post Office scandal first surfaced in 2009, thanks to Computer Weekly, which highlighted the harrowing experiences of seven subpostmasters affected by the Horizon software, marking one of the largest miscarriages of justice in British history.