Steps to clear Scottish postmasters being considered

Dozens of sub-postmasters were prosecuted in Scotland after wrongly being accused on embezzling money

The Scottish government is considering its own legislation to clear people who were convicted in Scotland as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted across the UK, including up to 100 in Scotland, after wrongly being accused of embezzling money.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a new law that will quash the convictions of all victims of the scandal in England and Wales.

But it will not apply in Scotland.

Downing Street has said it will work with the Scottish government to ensure sub-postmasters north of the border can also be cleared.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "We want to work with relevant bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland on this matter. It is not something we can do cross-UK."

• Sunak announces law to quash Post Office convictions

• How the Post Office scandal has affected Scotland

• Why were hundreds of Post Office workers prosecuted?

Angela Constance, Scotland's justice secretary, is currently considering how best to clear those who were pursued through the Scottish courts.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland ahead of the prime minister's announcement, she said: "We recognise that the UK Horizon Post Office scandal as probably one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in our time across the UK.

"We want to play our part in standing up for those who have been impacted by this travesty in Scotland."

Ms Constance has also written to the UK justice secretary, Alex Chalk, seeking an urgent meeting to ensure any Scottish legislation would not have the unintended consequence of excluding sub-postmasters from the UK compensation scheme.

At the moment, it appears that the scheme is only accessible to those who are cleared by the appeal courts or were among those who reached a group settlement with the Post Office in 2019.

Holyrood has previously passed legislation pardoning gay and bisexual men with historic convictions for same sex relations and pardoning miners for convictions related to strike action in the 1980s.

It is possible these laws could offer a model for pardoning sub-postmasters wrongly convicted for fraud and embezzlement in Scotland, if the Scottish and UK governments can agree a way to ensure that does not inadvertently block their route to compensation.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) had sole responsibility for prosecuting Horizon cases in Scotland, with only two convictions having been overturned so far.

The justice secretary has said people who are exonerated must not be blocked from accessing compensation schemes

First Minister Humza Yousaf has previously backed calls for the mass exoneration of victims of the Post Office scandal.

Post Office branch managers were accused of wrongdoing based on information from the faulty computer system between 1999 and 2015

The charges included false accounting, theft and fraud.

Some of those convicted were jailed, while others lost their livelihoods and reputations. Others have since died.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) wrote to 73 potential victims in Scotland in 2020 but only 16 have come forward to have their convictions quashed.

Six people were then given permission by the SCCRC to appeal Horizon convictions in court but only two have been overturned so far. The other four are still awaiting an outcome.

• Prosecutors told of Post Office concerns in 2013

Although it has been public knowledge for years with an inquiry ongoing, the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has thrust the issue back into the spotlight.

It has emerged that the COPFS became aware of potential problems with the Horizon system - the faulty Fujitsu software for the Post Office which made it look made look as though money was missing - a decade ago.

Ms Constance has said she will speak with fellow ministers about the Scottish government's ongoing Fujitsu contracts.

The Japanese company signed a deal in 2020 to support electronic vote counts for Scotland's local elections.

The UK government has said Fujitsu - which has apologised for its role in the post office scandal - would be "held accountable" if it was found to have blundered in its handling of the affair.

Fujitsu's website says the company has over 200 staff located in Scotland, and lists its customers as including the Scottish government and UK government departments based in Scotland.