Errors in a number of Pre-Horizon IT systems used at the Post Office could be linked to wrongful convictions, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has told MPs.
The statutory body also said it was “not impossible” that it would make subpostmaster judgments unrelated to the software.
During a hearing before the Select Committee on Business and Commerce to consider the response to Horizon Post Office scandalThe CCRC said it is currently assessing 35 potential miscarriages of justice by users of various Post Office IT systems.
Following the ITV drama about the Horizon scandal, ex subpostmasters who used a system known as Capture came forward with their stories. Following the campaign, the CCRC began assessing convictions associated with the software, which was also flawed.
Unknown numbers
Amanda Pearce, interim CEO of the CCRC, told MPs the organization did not know the number of potential wrongful convictions linked to Capture.
“We have 35 pre-Horizon applications; the reason we call them pre-Horizon applications is because we know they all use computer systems other than Capture,” she told MPs.
CCRC still transferred one case of seizure to the Court of Appeal, and also referred the user of the system known as Automated payment service (APS) or automated payment technology (APT).
The CCRC now refers to cases based on multiple technologies as pre-Horizon appeals, such is the variety of systems involved.
“We know there were a number of IT systems in place before Horizon, but reliable information on these cases is really lacking because they are about 30 years old,” Pearce said.
She added that there was a possibility that there could be potential wrongful convictions relating to other systems and added: “We are also conscious of the possibility that, given the basis on which the Horizon cases were referred, not only because the software was faulty but also because of a lack of disclosure and investigation, there are wider considerations. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that there may be a case where there is no problem with the software but there are problems relating to disclosure and investigation.”
James Arbuthnot, who campaigned for justice for postmasters more than 15 years, I agree. “The whole Horizon issue began its public discussion as an information technology case, but it quickly became clear that at its core it was a case of human behavior,” he said. “And it quickly became clear that the Post Office's approach to prosecution was simply outrageous in terms of the rule of law, its duty of disclosure and attempts to give postmasters a fair chance of defense.
“The Post Office just wanted to get the money back and this was all part of the journey to making the Post Office available for sale to the private sector as a going concern.”
Legislation on seizure
While hundreds of convictions based on evidence of the flawed Horizon system are being overturned by law, cases of users of other systems, including Capture, are being processed through the CCRC.
During a select committee hearing, Post Office chairman Nigel Railton was asked whether, as with the Horizon convictions, legislation should be used to overturn them en masse. He said yes.
Asked whether there was a case for extending the legislation to Capture users, the CCRC's Pearce said: “There is a case for considering that issue, absolutely.”
Pierce cited the ages of people filing motions to have convictions overturned, emphasizing that time is of the essence. A third of applicants for the position of deputy postmaster at the CCRC are families of deceased people, and a third are people over 70 years of age.
But Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the committee that using legislation to overturn convictions was not appropriate at this time.
“Parliament was in a unique position that it took to legislate on this issue and it would be constitutionally difficult to do so again unless these are exceptional circumstances,” she said. “To date, there has not been a single conviction overturned as a result of the capture system.”
More overturned convictions in the Capture case and more evidence could change that position, Davis-Jones said.
But Arbuthnot said it was “absolutely clear that they should expand” the Horizon conviction legislation to include sentences based on Capture.
“It was passed at a time of public outrage over the ITV drama and should apply more to Capture's affairs,” he said. “Because the Horizon Act was passed in the face of strong opposition from judges who hated the idea of parliament overturning convictions, the Ministry of Justice is now concerned. And yet this principle applies much more to the Capture cases because there is no evidence now.”
Select committee chairman Liam Byrne told Pierce that “with the picture you have painted today, there is not the slightest hope that we will be able to gather all the information we need.”
She admitted: “Yes, it is very difficult, and there will be times when we simply don’t have the information.”
Computer weekly first exposed the scandal in 2009revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they faced as a result of the Horizon system (see below for a timeline of all articles since 2009.).
