Post Office scandal: Scottish victims have convictions overturned

Two postmasters who were found guilty of embezzlement due to a faulty computer system have had their convictions quashed on appeal.

The cases of Susan Sinclair and William Quarm, who has since died, were among six cases being considered in Scotland.

Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 UK sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a flaw in a computer system Horizon.

The decision was issued at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

Lady Dorrian, who presided over the case, said: "It seems that some progress has been made in these cases.

"The court has read the material in the cases of Sinclair and Quarm and subject to anything that parties might say we are satisfied that the appeals in these cases should succeed."

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Ms Sinclair was convicted in 2004, after a trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court, on one charge of embezzlement and was sentenced to 180 hours community service.

Mr Quarm pled guilty to one charge of embezzlement at Lochmaddy Sheriff Court in 2010 and was given 150 hours community service.

Four others - Judith Smith, Aleid Kloosterhuis, Colin Smith and Robert Thomson - have also appealed their convictions.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) concluded that new information about Horizon, which had emerged since Ms Sinclair's trial, would have had a material bearing on a "critical issue".

The commission also said it may have explained why there was a shortfall of funds at the Post Office branch where she worked.

And it found that the prosecution could be seen as oppressive because the absence of the relevant evidence rendered the trial unfair.

Error logs of the Horizon system showed that computer bugs could cause losses

The SCCRC concluded that the five who pled guilty did so in circumstances that were, or could be said to be, clearly prejudicial to them.

On Friday it confirmed that in addition to the six referrals made last November, a subsequent seven were currently "under active review".

The SCCRC said it was still accepting applications from those affected by the Horizon scandal and encouraged anyone who believed they had suffered a miscarriage of justice to get in touch.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC confirmed on Friday that the appeal of Aleid Kloosterhuis, was "under review".

She said the Crown would be able to take a position on Mr Kloosterhuis' case later in the year.

Lawyer David Enright represents 180 sub-postmasters across the UK, including some in Scotland.

He said he was "at a loss" as to why Friday's decision had taken so long.

'Significant moment'

Mr Enright told BBC Scotland News: "It is a very significant moment but it should have happened years ago.

"Back in 2021, we had 52 convictions overturned in London, why have we had to wait more than two years for Scottish postmasters to have their convictions overturned?

"It's a wonderful day for those who have had their convictions overturned, but there are others waiting, including my client Robert Thomson. They need their names cleared.

"There needs to be a bit of get-up-and-go from the Scottish authorities to get these convictions quashed."

A UK-wide inquiry into the post office scandal is currently under way.

It will look at whether the Post Office knew about faults in the IT system and will also ask how staff shouldered the blame.

It will also examine whether staff at software firm Fujitsu - which developed the Horizon software to complete tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking - knew the system had flaws while data from it was used in court to convict sub-postmasters.

Workers who have had their convictions overturned are entitled to £600,000 each in compensation.