The criminal conviction of a former Manchester postmaster could be overturned in the courts more than 20 years on after the Horizon scandal, it emerged today.
Many postmasters and sub-postmasters were sacked or prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after money appeared to have vanished from accounts at their respective branches. The information came from the Horizon computer system used in Post Office branches, which turned out to be flawed.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said today it had written to more than 300 people regarding 'potentially unjust convictions stemming from the faulty Horizon evidence' who can apply for a review of their convictions.
The CCRC said two further Post Office convictions - one of a man in Manchester in 2002 - related to alleged cash shortfalls have been referred to the Crown Court due to 'concerns about the discredited Horizon computer system'.
Andrew Gilbertson was a counter clerk at a Post Office in Higher Openshaw, Manchester, until he took over the franchise. The CCRC said he pleaded guilty at Manchester magistrates' court on March 19, 2002, to the theft of almost £25,000 from Consignia.
He was later, said the CCRC, given a six-month prison sentence at Manchester Crown Court, which was suspended for two years. In a statement, the body said: "As Mr Gilbertson had pleaded guilty in the magistrates' court, he was unable to appeal against his conviction.
"However, Mr Gilbertson was prompted to ask for a review of his conviction following the landmark quashing of 39 similar CCRC cases at the Court of Appeal in April 2021.
"The Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded that the convictions depended on flawed Horizon computer data and there is a real possibility that the Crown Court will overturn the convictions."
A total of 66 cases have now been referred back to the courts since the scandal emerged. CCRC Chairman Helen Pitcher OBE said: "We are committed to raising awareness of the options open to convicted sub-postmasters and counter staff.
"This is the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history, and we might be able to help many more people challenge a Post Office conviction or clear the name of a loved one who has since died. Advice from us might ultimately lead to that case being overturned, and a miscarriage of justice being corrected." The second referral relates to a former Post Office employee who was based in the East Midlands.
The Government said in January last year it wanted postmasters who exposed the scandal through the High Court group litigation order (GLO) case to receive compensation. Then Business Secretary Grant Shapps apologised 'unreservedly' to those caught up in the Horizon computer system scandal.
In a Commons statement on the GLO compensation scheme, he said: "The Horizon scandal is nothing short of a travesty. Today I turn to those who've lost everything. Those who've been driven to bankruptcy, lost the savings they’ve worked all their lives for.
"Those who were falsely accused and lost their good name in our country’s courts and those who were falsely convicted lost their freedom, in our country’s prisons. I want say today that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for those years of pain, of hurt, of anguish and I apologise unreservedly for any part that my department has played historically in this miscarriage of justice."
The CCRC is an independent body set up under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and is responsible for independently reviewing suspected and alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
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