Last week, the New York Times reported that criminal charges of those responsible for the Post Office IT scandal may be delayed because of funding. The delays in accountability is a further delay in justice for victims who have suffered as a result of this scandal.
Commander Stephen Clayman, the officer who has strategic oversight of the criminal investigation, told the Times he needed 99 extra staff and ‘that present funding ‘goes nowhere near that.’ Investigators said they needed £19 million each year, accounting for inflation, to achieve the original 2028 deadline for submitting charges against suspects. In a comment made to the Guardian, Clayman explained how the delays are ‘unacceptable for those who have already been living with this for decades.’
This concern forms part of the wider Post Office IT scandal, which involved wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters for theft, fraud and false accounting between 1999 and 2015. These convictions were based on data from Horizon, which appeared to have significant bugs that could cause the system to misreport, sometimes involving substantial sums of money.
One of the victims seeking legal action was Jo Hamilton, 69, a former submaster who ran a post office until 2006 when she was suspended and wrongfully prosecuted. Hamilton was convicted of false accounting and had to pay the Post Office £36,000, despite it being her own money.
It wasn’t until 15 years later that her criminal conviction was overturned. Hamilton said she would be ‘disgusted if the Home Office did not provide the funding police were requesting.’ Victims like Hamilton, who have already spent years clearing their name, are further frustrated as government efforts to ensure justice for the victims appear insufficient given funding concerns.
Janet Skinner, who was wrongfully convicted of false accounting in 2007, said she ‘no longer holds out hope that the people responsible for the scandal will see their day in court’.
Skinner’s comments highlight the uncertainty many victims feel over whether those responsible for the scandal will ever be held accountable. Such sentiments also reveal the growing hopelessness and erosion of trust in the justice institution resulting from these delays.In response to the frustration among victims, a government spokesperson said the ‘Chiefs’ Council is carrying out an investigation into potential criminality in the prosecutions of sub-postmasters and the wider presentation of the Horizon IT system as robust’.
