Post Office Inquiry live: I didn’t realise Post Office brought its own prosecutions, says Alan Cook
Let’s take a step back to explain what the Post Office scandal is.
More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information from a computer system called Horizon, in what has been described as the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice.
The Post Office itself took many cases to court, prosecuting 700 people between 1999 and 2015.
Another 283 cases were brought by other bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service(CPS).
Some went to prison for false accounting and theft. Many were financially ruined.
In 2017, a group of 555 sub-postmasters took legal action against the Post Office.
In 2019, it agreed to pay them £58m in compensation, but much of the money went on legal fees.
A draft report uncovered by the BBC shows the Post Office spent £100m fighting the group in court despite knowing its defence was untrue. The Post Office has said it would be “inappropriate” to comment.
Although campaigners won the right for cases to be reconsidered, only 95 convictions had been overturned by mid-January 2024.
