Solicitors acting on behalf of more than 100 former sub-postmasters prosecuted, sacked or made to pay back alleged branch shortfalls when using the ‘Capture’ accounting system throughout the 1990s say ‘positive steps forward’ were made in a meeting with the Government today.
Hudgell Solicitors and a number of clients met with officials from the Department of Business and Trade (DBT).
It follows an independent investigation last year finding that Capture was likely to have caused shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts, leading to the Government urging those prosecuted to come forward and challenge their convictions and pledging to launch a separate compensation process.
The progress of challenging convictions through the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and Court of Appeal, and establishing the new compensation scheme for those sacked or made to pay back alleged branch shortfalls, were discussed today.
Hudgell Solicitors represents over 100 clients affected by unexplained branch account discrepancies during the time Capture was used in the 90s, leading to action being taken against them by the Post Office.
Of those cases, more than 30 are being led by relatives of former sub-postmasters who have since died.
They include Mark Lloyd-Holt and his mother Agnes, who attended today’s meeting, and are pursuing justice on behalf of Agnes’ late husband Peter, who died in 2021, aged 75, without ever having the opportunity to clear his name.
He was sacked from his role as sub-postmaster of his Bolton Post Office in 1994 after accounts at his branch showed unexplained shortfalls, with his family saying the impact of all that happened ‘destroyed’ him and left him a ‘shell of himself.’
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‘A willingness to do the right thing by victims’
Solicitor Neil Hudgell, of Hudgell Solicitors, said:
The Capture victims are people who have had to wait the longest for any form of exoneration and redress, so these meetings with the Government are vitally important, and we feel there have been positive steps forward.
In terms of the cases where we are challenging convictions, there is a due process to follow through the CCRC and then hopefully the Court of Appeal. We’ve already got 21 cases submitted to the CCRC in a matter of months since the Government said that convictions relating to Capture should be challenged.
We’ve spoken with the CCRC today and those cases are moving forward, though of course, there is a lot of work to be done in terms of securing further information required.
We also have around a significant number of clients who we believe will qualify for the compensation scheme, and we were reassured by the DBT today that good progress is being made, with learnings taken from previous Post Office compensation schemes to form this one.
Obviously, everything needs ministerial sign-off and approval, but, quite rightly, there is a clear willingness to do right by those who have suffered at the hands of the Post Office in relation to Capture.
We always appreciate that redress can never come quickly enough for these victims and we push as much as we can to take things forward.
We have agreed to meet again in two months’ time, when we hope to be close to a position where this scheme is closer to launch.
Mr Hudgell said being able to sit down with Government Ministers in a meeting with those affected was really helpful, offering the opportunity to highlight the suffering caused, the difficulties gathering paperwork given cases were three decades ago, and the need for redress to be as speedy as possible. He said:
We will get redress and justice for those whose lives were affected by Capture.
There are potentially hundreds affected, and sadly a large number are likely to be people who are no longer with us, and died without ever being able to clear their name.
In a good number of cases relating that we are looking at, we are supporting relatives of people who have now passed away.
Our message is that people shouldn’t be put off by having a lack of documentation. If they know or suspect that they, or family members were affected by accounting issues between 1992 and 1999 which may have been due to Capture, they should come forward. That certainly includes family members acting on behalf of loved ones who have since passed away.
Our team is highly-experienced in gathering information dating back decades, and we will support people through the process of applying for redress once a new scheme is formulated.
The more people who come forward, the stronger the picture will be collectively in demonstrating the impact of a faulty system on so many innocent people. That goes for former sub-postmasters, but also relatives who know their loved ones ran branches at that time, and may have experienced issues.
