The lawyer leading compensation negotiations with the Post Office on behalf of many former sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted of crimes in the Horizon Scandal says they remain ‘poles apart’ on agreeing damages.
Neil Hudgell, of Hudgell Solicitors, has spoken out as a year has now passed since the landmark day at the Court of Appeal in London (April 23, 2021), when 39 sub-postmasters – the largest ever appellant group to appear at the Royal Courts of Justice – had long-standing convictions quashed.
The number of convictions to be overturned has now climbed to a total of 73, with the very first as long as 16 months ago, at Southwark Crown Court.
Today, Mr Hudgell, who is negotiating with the Post Office on a number of ‘lead cases’ to establish the value of compensation cases, said matters are not progressing quickly enough.
“It is a year since the first convictions were quashed at the Court of Appeal, and even longer for the few whose cases were the first heard in December 2020, so now is an appropriate time to take stock of how compensation claims are panning out for the exonerated sub-postmasters,” Mr Hudgell said.
“All but three have had interim payments, said by the Post Office to have been made ‘to alleviate immediate financial need’. Our clients feel the Post Office have made that sound like they have been doing them a favour.
“They were not, they were handing back money wrongly taken from them in the first place. This money has mostly gone on squaring off debts built up as a result of what they went through, and life’s essentials.
“Our clients want closure, but we are not yet there, and time is not on some peoples’ side.
“We have lead cases going through the system. We are narrowing issues, but not quickly enough. We need a further round of interim payments to settle agreed heads of loss. Otherwise, we run the risk of clients feeling forced to settle under value, just to see some sort of settlement sooner rather than later.
“This is already happening with the Historical Shortfall Scheme and we don’t want to see the same happen with these claims.
“We need early dispute resolution to resolve contentious areas. At the moment though we are poles apart in how we value some of the losses suffered by the sub-postmasters.”
Call for cases to be settled before end of year
Mr Hudgell is now calling for compensation cases to be brought to a successful conclusion by the end of 2022.
He said: “Another round of lengthy High Court proceedings need to be avoided if at all possible. We need to bring these cases to a close in the course of this calendar year, so these decent, honest people can move on with their lives and finally enjoy some peace of mind. Many feel strongly that their ongoing suffering continues to be used as a lever to make derisory settlement offers.
“It needs more than Ministers’ sound bites to bring this about; it needs dedicated time and resource to turn words into deeds, and for proper and meaningful offers to be put forward. For some poor sub-postmasters time has beaten them, they have died or lost capacity. For others the clock is ticking quickly too.
“Perhaps the words of one sub-postmaster to me best sum up the current position. They said; “I’m concerned now that the interim payment has run out, just settling personal loans, debts and essential house repairs. My freezer, washer and microwave have all packed up over recent months, and now my boiler! I may no longer be a criminal but I’m still very much a victim. Post Office continues to control my life and cause me stress and sleepless nights”.
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