HISTORICAL CONVICTIONS

The Post Office has today, Friday 28 January 2022, formally responded to the Court of Appeal regarding three cases seeking permission to appeal convictions in Post Office prosecutions.

Post Office is opposing the applications in two cases and in the other is seeking further guidance from the Court as there is currently insufficient material to assist the Court as to whether or not the reliability of Horizon was essential to the prosecution.

A Post Office spokesperson said:

“Post Office is taking determined action to fairly address historical prosecutions, carefully considering each case in view of the Court of Appeal’s previous judgments.

“We are continuing to make strenuous efforts contacting people with relevant convictions that may be affected to assist them should they wish to appeal.”

As part of an extensive post-conviction disclosure exercise Post Office has identified a total of 706 historical convictions in cases it prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 in which Horizon computer evidence might have featured. This number is reduced from a previously published figure of 736 due to further information being received as part of the work being conducted to identify such cases.

Of the 706 Post Office cases, a total of 94 have now been through the appeal Courts. To date, 71 convictions have been overturned in unopposed appeals and 23 appeals have been dismissed, abandoned or refused permission to appeal.

In addition, there have also been six appeals to date in which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was the Respondent, not Post Office. One of these was conceded and the conviction overturned and five were opposed, with the safety of the convictions upheld by the Court of Appeal in two cases and the appeals abandoned in the remaining three.

In determining the safety of the convictions, the Court of Appeal distinguished between what it has termed ‘Horizon cases’ - those where the reliability of Horizon data was essential to the prosecution – and those which are not.

Other cases are continuing through the legal process, including reviews by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Appeals of historical cases in which Post Office acted as prosecutor began in 2020 with referrals by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The appeals followed the ‘Horizon Issues’ Judgment in group civil litigation in December 2019.
• Appeals arising from convictions in Magistrates’ Courts must be appealed to the Crown Court. To date such appeals have been heard by Southwark Crown Court.
• Convictions in Crown Courts are heard by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). People who have not previously appealed and were convicted in a Crown Court or convicted in a magistrates’ court after pleading not guilty, can appeal in the normal way, seeking leave from the court where necessary. If people have previously tried to appeal and failed, or pleaded guilty in a Magistrates’ Court, they can apply to the CCRC.
• Post Office’s post-conviction disclosure exercise, by external criminal law specialists Peters & Peters, has examined around 4.5 million documents and thousands of physical and electronic sources have been interrogated. In addition, Peters & Peters liaised with a number of third parties including Fujitsu Services Limited, Royal Mail Group, the Courts, the CCRC and approximately 50 law firms and agents historically instructed by Post Office to obtain material relevant to the convictions.