A whole bunch of postmasters who had been wrongfully prosecuted based mostly on defective info from the Horizon IT system will probably be entitled to limitless compensation, as introduced on Tuesday.
Roughly 900 Publish Workplace department homeowners will obtain monetary redress of a minimum of £600,000 beneath a brand new scheme following laws that quashed their convictions earlier this 12 months. The federal government has confirmed there isn’t a higher restrict on the compensation accessible to sub-postmasters who apply.
The Treasury has allotted a £1 billion fund to compensate postmasters affected by the scandal, thought-about one of many UK’s worst miscarriages of justice, via numerous schemes.
Between 1999 and 2015, a whole bunch of postmasters had been convicted of crimes similar to fraud, false accounting, and theft after the Horizon system, developed by the Japanese IT firm Fujitsu, falsely indicated that cash was lacking from department accounts.
Because the scandal was uncovered, 110 postmasters have had their convictions quashed within the Courtroom of Attraction, with the Publish Workplace appearing as prosecutor in all however 11 of those circumstances. Many victims, who confronted jail sentences and monetary damage, weren’t exonerated till the brand new legislation was enacted in Could.
The laws was initially introduced by Rishi Sunak, then Prime Minister, in January following elevated scrutiny from the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Publish Workplace.
Alan Bates, a sub-postmaster who has campaigned for justice for 21 years, welcomed the announcement, stating: “It’s about time, this was the decent thing to do.”
The Publish Workplace (Horizon System) Offences Invoice, which mechanically quashed convictions for sure offences when it got here into drive in Could, was fast-tracked after the overall election was introduced.
Underneath the brand new scheme, launching on Tuesday, these whose convictions have been quashed can apply for compensation via a government-administered course of. The Ministry of Justice has recognized these affected and can ship letters concerning the scheme. Whereas 900 individuals are anticipated to be eligible, others can nonetheless apply if not contacted immediately.
The scheme provides two utility paths: a fast-track course of offering a “full and final” £600,000 compensation bundle with solely an ID examine, and a extra detailed declare course of with no cap on the cost quantity. This method accommodates sub-postmasters preferring to not revisit their experiences in depth.
Compensation is anticipated to achieve thousands and thousands for probably the most severely affected. Candidates choosing the in-depth course of will obtain an preliminary cost of £450,000, with additional evaluation to comply with. Each utility paths will embrace a preliminary cost of £200,000 as claims are processed. Nonetheless, no deadline has been set for the ultimate payouts, which will probably be managed by the Division for Enterprise and Commerce.
Provisions are additionally in place for claims on behalf of deceased or unwell sub-postmasters.
Sub-postmasters who’ve received courtroom appeals are entitled to a separate compensation scheme. Of the 110 people who had their convictions overturned, 48 have absolutely settled their claims, amounting to over £31 million in compensation.
Moreover, one other 3,000 victims who had been bankrupted or pressured to repay cash are anticipated to say greater than £150 million in compensation.
