How the Horizon Post Office scandal has affected Scotland
- Published
The Post Office Horizon scandal has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
People running post offices were accused of crimes like theft, false accounting or embezzlement on the basis of a faulty IT system called Horizon.
Some were convicted and sent to prison, others lost their livelihoods and reputations. Their plight was highlighted in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
A new law is being introduced at Westminster to clear the majority of victims in England and Wales. The Scottish government says this should apply across the UK, but is working to develop its own equivalent legislation.
How many people are affected in Scotland?
We don't know the exact number.
In Scotland the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service holds sole responsibility for prosecutions. That's different to England where the Post Office prosecuted cases.
In 2020 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) - which investigates possible miscarriages of justice - wrote to 73 potential victims of the Horizon scandal in Scotland.
As of March 2024, a total of 19 people have come forward in Scotland to ask for their convictions to be reviewed.
Eight of those cases have been referred to court. Six people have been cleared and the other two are still waiting for an outcome.
One of the 19 cases has been rejected and three others are currently on hold.
In the UK as a whole, about 100 convictions have been quashed.
What about people who weren't convicted?
It is possible there are hundreds of people across Scotland who were accused of stealing money from their post office branches who were not convicted.
A UK-wide public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing and in 2022 it came to Glasgow to hear evidence from affected sub-postmasters and mistresses in Scotland.
None of those giving evidence had been convicted but they described the desperation they felt when their accounts repeatedly showed shortfalls.
They talked about the dire impact that being accused of stealing had on their reputations, finances and mental health.
Some people who were accused but not convicted have received compensation; others are still waiting.
We know that some sub-postmasters and mistresses died before the extent of the Horizon scandal was uncovered.
Sub-postmasters who were not convicted, but who used their own money to repay the apparent losses caused by the faulty system, will be entitled to claim £75,000 through the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
What next?
The new law being introduced on Wednesday applies to victims in England and Wales. It will automatically quash the convictions of those prosecuted by the Post Office or Crown Prosecution Service for offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting between 1996 and 2018.
The legislation is expected to come in to effect by the end of July.
Those who were wrongly convicted will get an option to settle for £600,000 without the need to bring a formal claim.
People can instead choose to have their claims assessed as part of the usual scheme process, in which there is no limit to compensation.
Scotland's Justice Secretary Angela Constance said it was "extremely disappointing" that the legislation would only apply in England and Wales.
She has written to the UK government, arguing that a single bill applying across the UK would be the best way to ensure that there is "a quick, fair and equal solution for all affected sub-postmasters".
But she said the Scottish government would introduce its own legislation as quickly as possible if that did not happen.
Ms Constance said this would mirror the UK legislation as closely as possible, but warned that some delays may be "inevitable".
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