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The Post Office scandal is thought to be the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history. Photo: AP
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Hundreds of UK postal workers wrongly accused of fraud to be compensated, have convictions overturned

  • More than 700 post office branch managers were wrongly accused of theft or fraud between 1999 and 2015 because of a faulty computer system
  • The scandal is thought to be the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history
Britain
Associated Press
Agence France-Presse
Associated PressandAgence France-Presse
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Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday he will introduce measures to overturn the convictions of more than 700 post office branch managers who were wrongly accused of theft or fraud because of a faulty computer system.

“Today I can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated,” Sunak told parliament.

“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own.

“The victims must get justice and compensation.”

Alongside the exonerations, the government will introduce a new upfront payment of £75,000 (US$95,000) for those who are part of a group litigation over the issue, Sunak said.

The government has in recent years paid almost £150 million (US$191 million) in compensation to over 2,500 total victims embroiled in the scandal, he noted.

The scandal, which saw hundreds of postmasters falsely convicted of stealing money because Post Office computers wrongly showed that funds were missing from their shops, is thought to be the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.
Of the more than 700 postal branch managers who were convicted of theft or fraud between 1999 and 2015, just 93 have managed to overturn their convictions.

Some were sent to prison, and many were financially ruined after being forced to pay large sums to the state-owned Post Office. Several killed themselves.

Of the more than 700 postal branch managers who were convicted of theft or fraud between 1999 and 2015, just 93 have managed to overturn their convictions. Photo: EPA-EFE
The real culprit was a defective accounting software package called Horizon, which was supplied by the Japanese technology firm Fujitsu.

The state-owned Post Office maintained for years that data from Horizon was reliable and accused branch managers of dishonesty.

Police have opened a fraud investigation into the Post Office, but so far, no one from the company or from Fujitsu has been arrested or faced criminal charges. A public inquiry has been ongoing since 2022.

While the scandal has rumbled on for years, it hit the headlines again this week after a hit TV docudrama renewed outrage over it.

The ITV show, Mr. Bates vs the Post Office, charted a two-decade battle by branch manager Alan Bates, played by Toby Jones, to expose the truth and clear the wronged postal workers.

On Tuesday, ex-Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells said she would relinquish the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire that she received in 2018.

An online petition calling for her to be stripped of the honour had garnered more than 1.2 million supporters.

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