UK Post Office scandal: What's the latest and what lies ahead

Public anger is mounting over what has been described as the UK's biggest ever miscarriage of justice that saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly convicted of theft because of a computer software glitch.

Lives were ruined by the false accusations that led to some Post Office branch managers being jailed, going bankrupt, losing their homes and their health.

Four people took their own lives and dozens of those since exonerated died without seeing their names cleared.

The UK government is considering steps to clear the names of hundreds of subpostmasters convicted in the Post Office Horizon scandal, with many still fighting to have their convictions overturned.

What is the scandal?

The Post Office prosecuted 736 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses running small local post offices between 1999 and 2015 after faulty accounting software records showed that money had gone missing from their branches.

The scandal has been described at an ongoing public inquiry as "the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history."

Horizon, an accounting system developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was introduced into the Post Office network in 1999. It was used for tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking.

Subpostmasters reported bugs in the software after it recorded shortfalls, some amounting to many thousands of pounds.

Postal service executives, refusing to acknowledge problems with the software, forced workers to repay the shortfalls. 

How have the victims been impacted?

Some were convicted for false accounting and theft, many were financially ruined and have described being ostracized by their communities. And some have since died with a conviction against their name.

Martin Griffiths, aged 59, died by suicide after being falsely suspected of stealing $83,000. 

Seema Misra, another victim, was pregnant with her second child when she was jailed in 2010 and was forced to give birth while wearing an offenders' electronic tag. 

Has there been justice for the victims?

It took 20 years for campaigners to win a legal battle for their cases to be reconsidered.

A public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing but to date, many victims of the scandal are still fighting to have their convictions overturned or to secure full compensation.

In December 2019, a High Court judge concluded that the system contained a number of "bugs, errors and defects."

This is when the Post Office agreed to settle with 555 claimants, and agreed to pay £58 million ($74m) in damages.

Eighty-six postmasters have so far seen their convictions overturned and £21 million ($26m) has been paid in compensation. The claimants received a share of £12 million ($15.3m) after legal fees were paid.

Who are the key players?

Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster, was accused of theft and was contractually obliged to pay back the money from his own pocket. Despite first reporting issues with Horizon in 2000, he had his contract ended in 2003 when he refused to comply with Post Office policy.

He led the campaign group Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance to its High Court victory in 2019.

Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, is currently under fire over his role as postal affairs minister from 2010-12, during the coalition government. He refused to meet Bates in May 2010, saying he did not believe it "would serve any purpose." He has since said he was "deeply misled by Post Office executives."

Adam Crozier was CEO of Royal Mail from 2003-10, when the Post Office was part of the organization and sub-postmasters were being taken to court, before moving on to ITV. 

Paula Vennells oversaw the Post Office during a time when it repeatedly denied problems with the Horizon system, and is participating in an inquiry into the scandal. She received her CBE - a Commander of the British Empire award - in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to the "Post Office and to charity."

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would "strongly support" the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it decided to look at revoking the CBE given to the former Post Office boss. 

Why is there renewed interest in the scandal?

The prosecutions for theft and false accounting have received new attention following Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a television drama about one branch manager's fight for justice that was aired on UK television channel ITV last week.

The four-part television series has led to 50 potential new victims contacting lawyers, UK media has reported.

How have UK politicians reacted?

Former Conservative Minister David Davis has called for the victims of the scandal to be exonerated. He told the BBC those convicted should be able to submit a "mass appeal" against their convictions.

Keir Starmer, who is now the leader of the UK opposition Labour party but was in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013, says all the convictions should be revisited.

"It might be possible to get these cases back before the Court of Appeal quickly… these convictions need to be looked at," he said.

Starmer says to prevent this kind of situation happening again, the "prosecuting role" should be taken away from the Post Office and given to the CPS - the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.

MPs plan to raise the scandal in the Commons as parliament returns, with David Davis and Labour MP Kevan Jones pushing for an emergency debate.

What is a private prosecution?

It is a prosecution that can be started by a private individual or entity who/which is not acting on behalf of the police or other prosecuting authority, according to the CPS.

The right to bring private prosecutions is preserved by section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act (POA) 1985. The legislation allows companies or organizations to investigate and appoint lawyers to present evidence in court.

The Post Office says it has not undertaken any private prosecutions related to Horizon since 2015.

What may happen next?

The UK government announced in September that every postmaster convicted would receive a payout of hundreds of thousands of pounds. UK police have announced they are investigating possible fraud offenses committed during the scandal.

Amid widespread reaction to the ITV docudrama, PM Sunak told the BBC that new measures are being considered to clear the names of the hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses.

Sunak said the government will "do everything we can to make this right for all the people affected," describing the wrongful prosecutions as an "appalling miscarriage of justice" and saying it was "simply wrong what happened."

But he did not confirm whether the government would allow the victims to launch a mass appeal against their convictions - a key ask from campaigners. 

UK Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is also due to meet Kevin Hollinrake, the minister responsible for the Post Office, to discuss how those wrongfully convicted could be cleared.

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