A former sub-postmaster from Northern Ireland who was prosecuted as part of the Horizon scandal is to have his convictions quashed after appearing at the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland.
Lee Williamson was represented in the Court of Appeal by Michael Madden, of Belfast-based Madden & Finucane Solicitors, and Tim Moloney KC, of Doughty Street Chambers.
In 2014, he received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty on advice to three counts of fraud by false representation, theft, abuse of his position, and four offences of forgery and counterfeiting, after an audit at his branch in Portstewart showed an alleged shortfall of £17,000.
All the offences arose out of the same facts of his use of the Horizon system, but because forgery was not an offence covered by the new Post Office (Horizon Systems) Act 2024, which was introduced earlier this year, those convictions were not automatically quashed.
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It meant Mr Williamson had to appeal to the Court, and had that appeal not been successful today, he could have been left with convictions simply because of the technicality around relevant offences included in the new legislation.
With fraud and theft offences set to be overturned, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said his appeal was no longer being opposed and the court, presided over by Lady Chief Justice Keegan, agreed to quash four other convictions for forgery.
Mr Williamson now awaits formal confirmation from the Department of Justice that his fraud convictions have been quashed.
Once received, he will finally have cleared his name, and he has instructed Hudgell Solicitors to represent him in his civil claim for compensation.
Mr Hudgell said:
We are delighted for Lee that this hurdle is finally out of the way.
The process has unavoidably been drawn out and complex. The way is now free for him to be completed exonerated once he receives a letter of confirmation from the Ministry of Justice. We look forward to completing that journey with him so he can start to move forward with his life.