Post Office: Relief as hundreds of convictions overturned

Former sub-postmasters who had their convictions quashed in the Post Office scandal have expressed their “joy” and “disbelief” at the news. Keith Bell, who was convicted of false accounting in 2002, described it as a “huge relief,” while Lee Williamson said he was “overjoyed and very grateful.”

The law that quashed convictions from the Horizon IT scandal was approved by Parliament, making it one of the final bills to become law before the general election. This law applies to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with Scotland set to pass its own bill to quash convictions.

The case is considered one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, with hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 due to faulty accountancy software called Horizon.

Speaking before the final approval of the bill, Keith Bell expressed his disbelief at the news, saying it was a huge relief for him and his family. Lee Williamson, a former sub-postmaster from Northern Ireland, described his emotions as a mix of joy and anger at the years lost.

Compensation for those affected is secondary to having their names cleared, according to Williamson. The Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme will provide compensation payments, with an option to settle for £600,000 without the need for a formal claim.

The public inquiry into the Horizon scandal is ongoing, with former Post Office boss Paula Vennells testifying this week. The government argues that the exceptional circumstances of the scandal justify the unprecedented law quashing convictions.