Wrongly convicted postmasters set for immediate £200k under new deal

EPA

A new UK-wide compensation scheme has been announced for sub-postmasters with overturned convictions.

Around 900 people will qualify for the scheme, which applies to everyone who was exonerated by a law introduced in May.

Two compensation routes will be available, including one that offers £600,000 as a final settlement and another route for sub-postmasters who think they are owed more.

Regardless of the route chosen, those who qualify for compensation will be given an immediate £200,000 payout.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Postmasters have suffered immeasurably so I hope today’s new redress scheme brings some relief to postmasters who have waited far too long to get back the money that is rightfully theirs."

He said any postmaster who thinks they are eligible for the scheme should come forward to register.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 former sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted of theft and fraud on the basis of incorrect data from a faulty IT system called Horizon.

All of them were exonerated in May, but many had been to prison for stealing and false accounting, while some were left financially ruined and even took their own lives.

The scheme announced on Tuesday gives sub-postmasters the same financial compensation offered to those who had their convictions overturned by the courts before the introduction of the legislation in May.

Under the new plan, those who reject the final fixed settlement of £600,000 will have their application assessed by experts at the Department for Business and Trade.

These people will automatically have their £200,000 interim payment topped up to £450,000.

But there is a risk they ultimately get less than £600,000 after their full assessment and for this reason the government is advising people to take legal advice.

Not everyone will be satisfied with the offer of a £600,000 final settlement.

Former sub-postmaster Sami Sabet, whose wrongful conviction was overturned in 2021, described it as “appalling”.

Mr Sabet, who ran three post offices in West Sussex, was given a 12-month suspended sentence following his conviction in 2009 based on evidence from the Post Office's faulty IT system.

“I’d like to know,” he told the BBC, “how they came up with that figure?”

After rejecting the fixed amount, he is making a full claim, but said that despite working with solicitors, it still had not been submitted because the level of paperwork involved.

“Everything takes such a long time, you have to show a lot of evidence, a lot of proof and some things you can’t show after 15 years,” he told the BBC.

“You’re reliving what happened when you were first prosecuted... If you don’t accept the peanuts you’re offered, you may wait forever.”

However, he said he was determined to keep fighting and that the Post Office "should pay”.

Shabana Mahmood, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, said: “Justice must be a reality, not an ideal," adding that the scandal was an "inexplicable and unprecedented miscarriage of justice".

"I am pleased today we can begin to right this wrong and ensure they are quickly and fairly compensated," she added.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted during the Horizon IT scandal. The ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, broadcast in January, brought renewed attention to the ongoing plight of many affected.

An independent inquiry has been scrutinising the mistakes that led to the scandal.

One of the most anticipated appearances was former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, who cried and apologised for her handling of the scandal and said that there was a great deal she couldn't remember and much she hadn't been told.

Former Conservative business secretary Greg Clark also appeared before the inquiry and said the Post Office's prosecutions against sub-postmasters were "corrupt" and "unreliable".

However, like former business secretary Sir Vince Cable, who also appeared before the inquiry, Mr Clark said the Post Office had not made him aware of any issues.

Alan Cook, former managing director of the Post Office, also apologised for accusing sub-postmasters of having their "hands in the till" and said he would "regret for the rest of my life" making the comments.

Additional reporting by Charlotte Edwards and Esyllt Carr.