KentOnline

bannermobile

News

Sport

Business

What's On

Advertise

Contact

Other KM sites

CORONAVIRUS WATCH KMTV LIVE SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTERS LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS LISTEN TO KMFM
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
National

More subpostmasters in bid to clear names at Court of Appeal

By: PA News

Published: 01:45, 19 July 2021

Updated: 02:50, 19 July 2021

More former subpostmasters convicted of offences relating to the Post Office Horizon scandal will go to the Court of Appeal in a bid to clear their names.

In April, 39 former subpostmasters who were convicted and even jailed for theft, fraud and false accounting had their names cleared – some after fighting for nearly 20 years.

At a hearing in March, the court heard subpostmasters’ lives were “irreparably ruined” as they lost their jobs, homes and marriages after they were prosecuted by the Post Office – which knew the Fujitsu-developed IT system had “faults and bugs from the earliest days of its operation”.

Hundreds of people who ran Post Office branches were convicted of various offences during the period of time the system was being used.

mpu1

The Court of Appeal will consider appeals brought by 31 other subpostmasters on Monday, 10 of which are believed to be unopposed, but it is not known whether any convictions will be quashed immediately.

Former post office worker Tom Hedges (centre) pops a bottle of champagne in celebration outside the Royal Courts of Justice (Yui Mok/PA)

Solicitor Neil Hudgell, of Hudgell Solicitors – who has represented 33 former subpostmasters who have cleared their names so far, said in April: “Each and every subpostmaster walked out of the Royal Courts of Justice and down the steps with their heads held high… completely exonerated and found to be entirely innocent by the courts.

“Now we want to make sure we deliver the same outcome for every other family affected by this. The work goes on.”

The hearing is due to start at 10:30am and some of the postmasters are expected to attend court.

Read more

More by this author

sticky

© KM Group - 2024