Sub-postmasters with criminal convictions as a result of a second IT scandal at the Post Office have been told a second compensation may be set up by the Government, The i Paper can reveal.
Officials at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) are dealing with hundreds of potential claims relating to Capture, a piece of software rolled out to branches in the 90s, a precursor to the Horizon software.
In series of investigations in the past 12 months, The i Paper revealed how former sub-postmasters believe the system was faulty and caused them to suffer shortfalls when trying to balance the books.
Similar to the Horizon scandal, they were forced to hand over money, sacked, and in some cases criminally prosecuted by the Post Office.
The Government announced before Christmas it would look at setting up a new compensation scheme after an independent review found there was a “reasonable likelihood” Capture caused the shortfalls.
More than £1bn has already been set aside to deal with Horizon claims.
On Thursday, the DBT held a meeting in Whitehall with dozens of victims attending in person and many more virtually.
Steve Marston, 69, was among those who made the trip after he was convicted of theft and false accounting offences in 1998 despite insisting he never stole “a penny”
His case is one of 27 currently being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body responsible for putting potential miscarriages of justice before the Court of Appeal.
At the meeting, Capture victims were told a separate scheme may need to be set up for those exonerated alongside payouts for lost money.
It is hoped a plan for both can be in place by May when they will have to be signed off by ministers at both DBT and the Treasury.
“I was told my case and another one have already passed the first hurdle [at the CCRC],” said Mr Marston.
“That sounded promising. They are actively considering having some sort of scheme in place for those with convictions.
“They mentioned they would make sure that if there were a separate scheme it would be fast-tracked.”
Mr Marston added he hoped the justice watchdog’s new chief Karen Kneller will speed up the process of getting cases before the Court of Appeal.
“We’ve already lost some people. We don’t want to see any more people go to their graves without getting justice,” he added.
Some were left disappointed by the pace of progress following the meeting however.
Lee Bowerman, 66, from Ebbw Vale, South Wales says he lost around £60,000 over four years while trying to cover losses from Capture.
“They [the Government] are very loath to commit themselves, even on a potential timescale,” he said.
“We’ve got this lull now of waiting for the scheme to be put into place and just even designed.
“It’s obviously a step in the right direction, and compared to Horizon we have made comparatively big strides.
“But we shouldn’t use Horizon as a yardstick. We all thought they had a golden opportunity to fast-track this Capture scheme because of the underlying circumstances.”
As the Capture losses mounted, Mr Bowerman was forced to borrow money from his parents before finally selling his Post Office branch in Tredegar, Gwent in South Wales after he was told his position was under threat.
Four months later his friend, Steve Lewis, was sacked from his job from a neighbouring Post Office branch after an audit showed a loss.
Steve Lewis said he was a “bit disappointed” after the meeting, adding he had struggled with reliving his experiences over the past year.
“Hopefully at the next meeting in May, I’d like to think there’s something positive,” he said.
“It’s important to consider the people who need to be exonerated. But there’s a lot of other people looking at some sort of interim payment or compensation. A lot of people are living on benefits.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Officials met with postmasters today as part of the Government’s commitment to develop an effective and fair redress process that takes into account the circumstances of those affected by Capture.
“Ensuring postmasters are treated with dignity and respect is our absolute priority and we will continue to update on the development of the redress mechanism as it progresses.”
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