Ministers name for probe into claims a SECOND Post Office IT scandal
Ministers have ordered the Post Office to probe claims a second IT system might have resulted within the wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters.
A string of former sub-postmasters have advised the i newspaper they consider Capture, an accounting software program launched in Post Office branches within the Nineties, was defective and responsible for monetary discrepancies of their programs.
One, Steve Marston, 67, of Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, stated Capture noticed him convicted of theft and false accounting in 1998 – earlier than the Horizon fiasco.
It is unknown which agency developed the Capture software program.
Mr Marston stated that he didn’t steal ‘a penny’ from the department. He advised the i: ‘They stated pleading responsible was the one approach to keep away from going to jail.
The chief government of the Post Office, Nick Read, admitted it’s attainable a few of the victims’ cash which vanished from the accounts of department managers might have ended up within the ‘hefty numeration packages for executives’
Steve Marston, 67, of Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, stated Capture noticed him convicted of theft and false accounting in 1998 – earlier than the Horizon fiasco
‘I simply thought it have to be one thing I’m doing improper, computer systems had been of their infancy, you did not suppose they could possibly be improper.
‘The extra it went on I attempted to cover it within the hope it could kind itself out.’
The 67-year-old stated that he advised the Post Office harmless, to which he claimed they responded and stated that Capture ‘would not make errors’.
Similarly, Jon Gregory stated he was suspected of stealing cash at his department and was interviewed underneath warning.
He ran the department in Sherfield-on-Loddon in Hampshire together with his spouse. No motion was taken after he supplied his personal duplicate paper data.
Mr Gregory advised the outlet that he felt pressured into buying the software program by the Post Office within the 90s, describing it as ‘a canine to start with’.
Sandra Brocklehurst, one other former sub-postmaster situated in Somerset, additionally recalled having points with Capture throughout this era.
She stated it labored effective at first however as soon as they transferred to a different workplace, the primary stability was up £249.
She suspected that the fault was all the way down to Capture’s system being unable to calculate the proper pension allowances.
Labour MP Kevan Jones, who has advocated for postmasters impacted by the Horizon scandal, stated he knew of ‘5 or 6’ potential victims of Capture.
Former postmaster Alan Bates not too long ago hit out on the ‘insanity’ of the Post Office scandal compensation scheme and warned victims had been ‘dying’ ready for redress.
Former postmaster Alan Bates not too long ago hit out on the ‘insanity’ of the Post Office scandal compensation scheme and warned victims had been ‘dying’ ready for redress
A spokesman for Department for Business and Trade, which owns the Post Office, stated it has advised the Post Office to research Mr Marston’s case to ascertain ‘if there are points with some other programs at present or beforehand utilized by Post Office’.
A Post Office spokesman stated it’s going to study allegations of wrongful convictions which pre-date the Horizon scandal.
More than 700 sub-postmasters had been prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faults with Fujitsu’s Horizon system utilized in Post Office branches made it seem that cash was lacking.
Just 93 convictions have been quashed to this point, which means a whole lot of postmasters are unable to entry compensation.
The chief government of the Post Office, Nick Read, admitted it’s attainable a few of the victims’ cash which vanished from the accounts of department managers might have ended up within the ‘hefty numeration packages for executives’.
He additionally blamed a ‘tradition of denial’ for delays in giving compensation to subpostmasters caught up within the Horizon scandal.
A spokesman for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the physique that sends circumstances to the Court of Appeal, stated: ‘If anybody feels they could have been the sufferer of a miscarriage of justice, we might urge them to return to us as quickly as attainable.’
