Victims of Post Office Horizon scandal offered £600,000 compensation
Postmasters who were wrongfully convicted due to faulty accounting software used by the Post Office will be offered £600,000 in compensation, the government has announced.
More than 700 branch managers for the company were given criminal convictions when computer program Horizon made it look as though money was missing from their sites.
A long-awaited inquiry into the scandal, which opened last year, revealed more than 30 victims died while still waiting for justice.
The mistakes represented one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history as dozens of innocent people were sent to prison and others were driven to bankruptcy and suicide.
Business minister Kevin Hollinrake told the Commons: ‘The government has decided that postmasters who have their convictions on the basis of Horizon evidence overturned should have the opportunity up front to accept an offer of a fixed sum in full and final settlement of their claim.
‘The sum will be £600,000. It is not up to £600,000, it is £600,000.’
It took 20 years of campaigning for victims to finally win a legal battle to have their cases reconsidered and convictions quashed.
The government said 86 convictions have been overturned and £21 million has been paid in compensation.
Mr Hollinrake said: ‘Any postmaster who does not want to accept this offer can of course continue with the existing process. It will therefore be completely optional to accept the offer.’
He added: ‘We hope that the change that I am announcing today will provide more reassurance and quicker compensation to those postmasters who prefer this option over going through the full assessment process.’
Solicitor Neil Hudgell, who represents 70 former subpostmasters seeking compensation from the Post Office, voiced scepticism over the offer and said in many cases the amount is ‘nowhere near enough’.
He said: ‘We welcome any announcement that is in our clients’ best interests.
‘Having spent many months negotiating with the Post Office and the Government as to what would represent fair and full compensation for former subpostmasters who have had convictions overturned, we are somewhat surprised by this sudden announcement.
‘I expect the reaction of many of our clients will be that this move is another example of the Post Office trying to control the narrative here.’
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