The widower of a Manchester Post Office worker jailed for theft is waiting for a ruling on an appeal.
Ian O’Donnell wants to posthumously clear Joanne O’Donnell’s name. Three appeal judges today (Tuesday) considered the case seven years after Mrs O’Donnell, who worked at North Levenshulme Post Office in Manchester, died aged 64.
Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Picken and Sir Nigel Davis, who heard arguments at a Court of Appeal hearing in London, were told that Mrs O’Donnell had been convicted of theft and given a seven-month jail term after a trial at Manchester Crown Court in 2007. They said they would deliver a ruling on a date to be fixed.
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The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) had referred the case to the Court of Appeal after being contacted by Mr O’Donnell. A spokesman said the case had been referred in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal.
Speaking before the appeal hearing, he said: “Following a detailed review of the case, the CCRC has decided that, in light of what is now known about Horizon, there is a real possibility that Mrs O’Donnell’s conviction will now be quashed.”
Tim Moloney KC outlined concerns about Mrs O’Donnell’s case at today's appeal hearing. He said the combination of a “number of factors”, including the “unreliability of Horizon data”, rendered Mrs O’Donnell’s conviction “unsafe”.
Mr Moloney said Mrs O’Donnell had “maintained her innocence” and told appeal judges: “She pleaded not guilty and her defence statement included reference to issues regarding the Horizon system … ”
Lawyers representing the Post Office opposed the appeal.
Errors made by Horizon software, which was made by tech firm Fujitsu and used by the Post Office, led to the wrongful conviction of more than 700 people over false accounting and theft between 1999 and 2015.
