Canterbury sub-postmistress conviction referred to enchantment court docket

Christian Fuller

BBC Information, South East

Handout Two people in an old photo - on the left is a man with brown hair in a blue jumper and black shirt. On the right is Patricia, a woman with a black roll neck, a grey blazer and glasses. — Patricia Owen (proper) died in 2003 earlier than particulars of the Submit Workplace scandal got here to mild

The primary legal conviction linked to the Submit Workplace Seize system has been referred to the Courtroom of Enchantment.

The case of Patricia Owen, who was discovered responsible of 5 counts of theft in June 1998, has been referred on the grounds that it was an abuse of course of, the Prison Instances Overview Fee (CCRC) mentioned.

Ms Owen was convicted of theft from the Broad Oak Submit Workplace department in Sweechgate, close to Canterbury, over a shortfall of £6,000.

The previous sub-postmistress used the Seize system, a precursor to the Horizon software program, which has been chargeable for virtually 1,000 wrongful convictions.

She obtained a sentence of six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 2 years.

The case is to be despatched to the Courtroom of Enchantment posthumously following an utility by Ms Owen’s household after her demise in 2003.

‘Landmark second’

The CCRC mentioned in March that it was analyzing 27 instances to find out whether or not the Seize accounting software program performed an element in convictions.

An unbiased report into Seize was commissioned final 12 months after subpostmasters mentioned that they had suffered comparable issues to these confronted by the Horizon victims.

The CCRC mentioned it has despatched greater than 70 instances related to the Submit Workplace Horizon scandal to the enchantment courts.

Solicitor Neil Hudgell mentioned the referral was a “vastly constructive step”.

“That is one other landmark second within the persevering with marketing campaign to make sure all those that had been wrongly prosecuted by the hands of the Submit Workplace have their names cleared,” he mentioned.

“Those that had been affected by Seize have suffered the longest of all.”

In a press release, the Division for Enterprise and Commerce mentioned: “We recognise that postmasters have endured immeasurable struggling, and we’re working intently with these affected by Seize software program to create a brand new redress scheme.

“Guaranteeing postmasters are handled with dignity and respect is our absolute precedence, and we’ll proceed to take heed to those that have been sharing their tales and work with the CCRC to assist them with their overview of the Seize system.”