At least eight convictions from before the Horizon Post Office scandal are being examined by the body charged with investigating possible miscarriages of justice, Sky News has learned.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has confirmed it is reviewing several cases of former subpostmasters affected by Capture software.
The computerized accounting system was used in the early 1990s, before Horizon was introduced to postal agencies from 1999.
Horizon was at the center of Postal scandal and I have seen hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted for stealing from their branches.
The Kroll report, commissioned by the government earlier this year, found that Capture had bugs and issues and was reasonably likely to have also caused cash flow deficits.
Lord Beamish, former Labor MP Kevan Jones, supports victims and calls on the Government to extend current legislation to automatically overturn convictions.
The Post Office Offenses (Horizon System) Act was passed in May but does not include victims of capture.
Lord Beamish told Sky News he had raised the issue with the Justice Secretary and called for a debate in the House of Lords.
“The government is going to have to take this seriously,” he said. “We cannot find ourselves in a situation where we have a two-tiered system where people are exempt from Horizon and cases of capture are either forgotten or have to go through a very lengthy legal process to have their name be exonerated. »
Chris claims his mother was wrongly imprisoned due to accounting issues with Post Office Capture software.
He added that he had “little confidence” in the CCRC’s “ability to handle cases” after several Horizon cases were referred to the body years ago.
“The problem with these cases is the lack of evidence… which has been destroyed or lost, so it will be very difficult to prove some of these cases through this process.
“Therefore, I think a blanket exemption like the one we had with Horizon needs to be discussed and considered for these cases.”
The CCRC told Sky News it had five cases under review “in which the Capture IT system may be a factor”.
He also said he was “seeking additional information” on eight cases mentioned in the Kroll report.
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The CPAB added that the time it takes to review a case depends on the “complexity” of each case “and the ease with which information about it is available.” In a statement he admitted: “The availability of information can be a particular obstacle in older cases. »
Chris’ mother died earlier this year following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and was never able to clear her name.
Chris Roberts’ mother, Liz Roberts, was convicted in 1999 of stealing £46,000 from the Post Office and spent 13 months behind bars.
Liz, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, died earlier this year.
Chris said she was jailed four days before she turned 17 and that he used to have “nightmares” that she was “going to die in there”.
“There was no evidence of any financial gain because they went through everything. And obviously the money was not in our accounts because it did not exist,” he added.
Although the Post offered her “three offers” to plead guilty, Liz refused and was sent to prison.
Liz Roberts in happier times before being jailed for theft – son insists she was innocent
Chris believes the Horizon victims’ victory at the High Court in 2019 was a missed opportunity for the Post Office to revisit the Capture cases.
“It would have been worth something then because my mother would have died knowing that everyone knew she was innocent,” he said.
“My father would have died knowing that the love of his life was not labeled a criminal.”
Chris wants his mother to be exonerated and for “those actively responsible” to “stand up in court…and justify themselves”.
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A Department of Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We were horrified to learn of the problems with the Capture system and are working closely across government to thoroughly review Kroll’s independent report and consider further action. to take.
“We continue to listen to postmasters and others who share their views on the report’s findings since its release last month.”