MINISTERS are ready to scrub clean the records of hundreds of Post Office scandal victims – even if it means some actual crooks end up walking free.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced emergency legislation earlier this year to quash the convictions of the subpostmasters wronged in the Horizon scandal amid huge public pressure.
The Post Office scandal was thrust back into the spotlight by the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office[/caption]
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake[/caption]
Details of the proposed law have been unveiled today, with Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake saying the “unprecedented intervention” will “deliver long overdue justice to postmasters”.
He also insisted possibly exonerating people genuinely guilty of crimes is a “price worth paying” to ensure innocent people have their names cleared.
The aim is for the law to come into effect by the end of July and it is expected to clear the majority of the victims.
Hundreds of subpostmasters were given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon IT software made it appear as though money was missing.
The issue was thrust back into the spotlight by the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
Announcing the plans, Mr Hollinrake said the legislation was likely to “exonerate a number of people who were, in fact, guilty of a crime“.
But he added: “The Government accepts that this is a price worth paying in order to ensure that many innocent people are exonerated.”
Mr Hollinrake said the new law will quash convictions if they meet specific, clear rules.
It will also look at cases where the prosecutor’s actions are now seen as wrong, including the ones handled by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Convictions will need to relate to alleged offences during the period that the Horizon IT system was in use and to offences which relate to the scandal – for example theft and false accounting.
The law will apply to convictions in England and Wales, but ministers said they will work with the Scottish and Northern Ireland governments to ensure compensation can be paid to victims there too.
Labour former minister Kevan Jones, a long-term campaigner on the Horizon scandal, welcomed the announcement but said it was vital that the Government set aside enough time for the new law to be passed “as quickly as possible”.
