The daughter of a former Kent sub-postmistress, Patricia Owen, whose ‘world came to an end’ when she was convicted of theft from her branch in the 1990s is one of a new wave of people fighting to clear their names as part of the Post Office scandal.
Although hundreds have now had their convictions quashed under legislation introduced last year to exonerate those prosecuted due to account shortfalls caused by the Horizon system, many more now still need to go through the courts to clear their names.
They are former sub-postmasters who used the Capture system– a precursor to Horizon which was used in branches from 1992 to 1999.
It follows an independent investigation last year finding it was also likely to have caused shortfalls which led to convictions, sackings and people being made to ‘payback’ thousands of pounds.
Shortly before Christmas the Government urged those prosecuted to come forward and challenge their convictions.
To do so, they will need to apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), and their case may then be referred to the Court of Appeal.
The case of Patricia Owen, who was convicted in 1998 of theft from her Broad Oak Post Office branch in Sweechgate, Canterbury, over a shortfall of £6,000, is one of 21 cases Hudgell Solicitors now have sat with the CCRC.
Mrs Owen denied the charges against her but was found guilty on five counts of theft and received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. She died in 2003, way before details of the Post Office scandal came to light.
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Conviction ‘destroyed a previously formidable woman’
Mrs Owen’s daughter, Juliet Shardlow, 56, says it was a sentence which her mother never recovered from. She said:
It destroyed my mum. Her world came to an end when she lost her Post Office and was prosecuted. It was awful.
My mum had dedicated her life to running that Post Office and she’d made it a huge success. She was really driven.
She was popular with the local community as she was so helpful with people, especially the elderly, and she was also popular at the Post Office as she was doing so well.
As she ran a successful branch she was asked to trial Capture, and she actually paid £2,000 for it, moving from a traditional book system. I remember she always had a big red book of accounts that she used prior to that.
I can remember that she started having problems and that she became very stressed, but my mum and dad obviously shielded myself and my sister from it. Then one day I remember them sitting us down and telling us that mum was being prosecuted and that they had to go to court.
The Post Office suspended my mum and brought somebody else in to run the post office, and they said they’d not prosecute her if she sold the shop. As mum had done nothing wrong, my dad said no and so they prosecuted her.
We managed to get an independent computer expert to look over everything and he said there were malfunctions with the software, so we were hopeful ahead of the court case. The expert didn’t turn up on the day, and we never found out why. When the jury gave their guilty verdict my mum just collapsed in the dock.
It was the end of her world. She was then shunned by people in the community and it was like somebody switched a lightbulb off on her life. She just hid away. It was so sad to see as she had always been such a formidable woman.
I remember that the newspaper ran a story on the court case and, as we sold them in the shop, my dad burned all of that days copies in the back garden. It brought shame on them and they’d never done a thing wrong.
Deborah and Juliet
TV drama led to daughters seeking redress
Ms Shardlow, her sister Deborah Linford, and their father kept what happened to themselves, with neither sister even telling their husbands, or their children, until the scandal was exposed in the TV drama Mr Bates v The Post Office, in January 2024.
It was then they decided they must come forward and challenge the injustice their mother, and their family, had suffered, seeking legal support from Hudgell Solicitors’ dedicated Post Office scandal team. Ms Shardlow said:
Thankfully my dad had kept lots of paperwork. He’d actually never wanted to throw it away because he was worried somebody would find it.
We’ve not spoken about this publicly before. For two decades, if we’d spoken out we would have been protesting innocence on behalf of our mother, but the finger of suspicion would have still been pointed at her. The TV drama changed that.
Hudgell Solicitors’ expert legal team are now representing the family in seeking to have Ms Owen’s conviction considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), and Ms Shardlow is hoping it proves to be a smooth process to exoneration. She added:
Personally I believe people affected by Capture should be exonerated without the need of going through the court process as they have been for Horizon.
My dad is 81 one now and all he wants to see is my mother’s name cleared. It can’t be a process that takes years. It’s already been 27 years for our family.
Lawyers urging others to come forward – even without evidence
Solicitor Neil Hudgell, of Hudgell Solicitors, confirmed the firm now has 21 cases relating to convictions from the period Capture was used with the CCRC for review. He is encouraging more people to come forward, even if they feel they are lacking documentation or proof. He said:
The Government has publicly stated that it accepts and understands that, due to the length of time which has passed since the Capture system was in use, there are likely to be issues over supplying evidence relating to shortfalls, suspensions, terminations, prosecutions, and convictions.
Our message is that people shouldn’t be put off by having a lack of paperwork, and if they know or suspect that they or family members were affected by accounting issues between 1992 and 1999, they should come forward. That includes family members acting on behalf of loved ones who have since passed away.
Our team is highly experienced in gathering evidence dating back decades, and we will support people through the process of applying to CCRC, which is the first step towards overturning convictions.
The more people who come forward and submit to the CCRC, the stronger the picture will be in collectively strengthening appeals when they are considered. That goes for former sub-postmasters, but also relatives who know their loved ones ran branches at that time, and may have experienced issues.
