The Post Office has officially apologized to subpostmasters affected by its faulty Capture accounting software. This landmark apology comes after years of blame and punishment directed at people like Ken Tooby’s late wife, June, who faced immense pressure while challenging the Post Office over unaccounted shortfalls in her branch in the north-east of England.
Ken received a heartfelt letter from Simon Recaldin, a senior executive at the Post Office. The letter recognized the significant failings related to Capture and expressed deep regret for the impact on June. Tragically, June, who died in 2020, endured relentless pursuit and never revealed the strain she was under to her husband.
In 2003, the Post Office sued her for over £55,000 due to those unexplained shortfalls, leading to her bankruptcy. Last year, an independent investigation revealed that Capture had likely caused the shortfalls that ruined many lives. Until the ITV drama about the Horizon scandal aired last January, many former Capture users had little understanding of how IT errors resulted in their wrongful punishment.
The scandal first emerged in 2009 when Computer Weekly uncovered the experiences of thousands of subpostmasters who were wrongfully accused and even prosecuted due to shortcomings in the Horizon IT system, which came long after Capture. The TV drama, “Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office,” brought these painful stories back into the public eye and catalyzed political action, leading to recent legislation aimed at exonerating nearly 900 individuals wronged by the system.
Now, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is examining 21 potential wrongful conviction cases linked to Capture, an increase from earlier this year. Capture was a standalone PC application developed by the Post Office to manage accounts, distinct from the complex Horizon system.
More cases keep surfacing, with patterns resembling those connected to Horizon. For instance, Patricia Owen, a former subpostmistress convicted of theft in 1998 over a £6,000 shortfall, is among those seeking to clear their names. Owen, who passed away in 2003, always maintained her innocence but was convicted on multiple counts with a suspended sentence.
Her daughter, Juliet, recalls the devastating impact that the prosecution had on her family. They had tried to bring in an independent expert to examine the software’s malfunctions, but when that expert failed to show up in court, they lost their chance to prove her innocence.
Similarly, Peter Lloyd-Holt, who died in 2021, was dismissed as a subpostmaster after unexplained shortfalls in his Bolton branch. His wife, Agnes, shared that the event marked a turning point in their lives. Peter was questioned without legal representation, and while he wasn’t prosecuted, he remained held liable for the alleged shortfalls. The financial burden forced Agnes to work overtime to keep their finances afloat.
Their son, Paul, explained how the ordeal shadowed their family life. Despite Peter’s efforts to provide evidence to clear his name, much of it was never returned. Years later, they are still trying to gather evidence to help vindicate his memory.
The Post Office Horizon scandal gained traction through ongoing journalism and activism, revealing a painful legacy of wrongful accusations triggered by flawed technology.