Postmasters convicted within the Horizon scandal are “very cynical” of a brand new legislation introduced by the prime minister, a solicitor has mentioned.
Rishi Sunak introduced plans for an act of parliament, which shall be launched inside weeks, on Wednesday, to overturn a whole lot of Post Office convictions.
More than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses have been prosecuted for accounting errors counting on information from the defective Horizon software program.
Terry Wilcox, of Hudgell Solicitors, a agency which represented 74 individuals who have already had their convictions quashed, criticised the federal government for not appearing till the general public outcry following the airing of ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office final week.
Mr Wilcox mentioned the publicity has seen his agency obtain 150 enquiries and decide up three new instances of convicted sub-postmasters, one in every of whom has died.
“Obviously we welcome the announcement, but we are very cynical and our clients are very cynical – 20 years of history has led them to be very cynical,” he informed Sky News.
“The inquiry has been running for three years and the government has known about this issue for three years yet it’s only now the drama airs, the public have become alarmed and have become aware that the politicians start to act.”
He mentioned a blanket quashing of the convictions might not present his purchasers with the identical diploma of vindication as in the event that they have been to be investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
He mentioned: “It’s a welcome announcement however clearly the satan goes to be within the element. What does it imply?
“We have found some of our clients prefer to go through the review precisely because that backs of their view that they are completely innocent.”
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Noel Thomas, 77, from Anglesey, a former sub-postmaster who was wrongfully convicted of false accounting in 2006 had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2021.
“We’ve had these assurances before to be honest, and they’ve fallen through,” he informed Sky News.
“At the end of the day, it’s this drama that has hit the nail. It’s taken a drama to make people understand what’s been going on.”
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While Mr Wilcox mentioned the announcement would give some folks the “strength and courage” to come back ahead, he raised issues over the first laws which “in theory would be unconstitutional”.
He mentioned the legislation would should be extraordinarily properly outlined and will threat “riding roughshod” over the independence of the judiciary.
“If there’s another pressing case, which is politically sensitive, it might be used for the wrong reasons,” he mentioned.
“That’s the danger – it should just be for postmasters… but once a precedent is set it becomes difficult to put the genie back in the bottle.”
Source: information.sky.com”