Horizon Scandal

The Post Office has paid lawyers a quarter of a billion pounds in legal fees over the Horizon scandal, close to the amount given to victims. The state body paid out £256.9 million to 15 law firms and two barristers’ chambers between September 2014 and March 2024, according a freedom of i

Post Office operators in Scotland are being urged to share their experiences of working in the Post Office to provide crucial evidence for the inquiry into the Horizon scandal. The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is investigating failings surrounding the Horizon IT system which led to the wrongful pr

Postmasters whose convictions have been overturned by the Post Office Offences Act can now apply to the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, including those in Scotland. The scheme aims to ensure that postmasters receive redress without unnecessary bureaucracy.

There are more than 20 investigations underway into solicitors who worked for the Post Office in cases linked to the Horizon scandal, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said. The SRA is investigating the conduct of Post Office or Royal Mail Group lawyers during the period in which subpost

Sub-postmasters in Scotland who were wrongly convicted as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal have now been exonerated. The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act received royal assent yesterday and came into force today. The legislation was passed in the Scottish Parliament on

Judges failed subpostmasters convicted in the Horizon scandal, according to a former director of public prosecutions. Sir David Calvert-Smith, 79, who reviewed scores of appeals for the Post Office, said that in at least 12 convictions, judges ought to have “probed” the prosecution case

Legislation has been passed that will automatically exonerate sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted as a result of the faulty Horizon IT system, the day after Royal Assent is granted. Those whose convictions are quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill will be abl

Sub-postmasters wrongly convicted as a result of the faulty Horizon IT system will automatically be exonerated under proposed legislation introduced at Holyrood. Those whose convictions are quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill will then be able to access the UK gov

The Scottish government is to bring forward legislation clearing the names of the victims of the Horizon scandal before the summer. Justice Secretary Angela Constance told a cabinet meeting that the UK government was "inexplicably" refusing to quash the convictions of sub-postmasters in Scotland, ev

If UK legislation quashing the convictions related to the Horizon scandal does not include Scotland then similar legislation will be introduced at Holyrood, Justice Secretary Angela Constance has said. Ms Constance said: “We, along with the Northern Ireland Executive, urged the UK government t

Watermans is to represent former Clackmannanshire sub-postmaster Rab Thomson as he pursues compensation from the Post Office following his wrongful conviction for embezzling money. Mr Thomson, 64, was found guilty in 2006 after an audit showed an apparent shortfall of nearly £6,000 at his Camb

Now that the dust has not settled on the Horizon scandal in Scotland as it relates to convictions of sub-postmasters, it is useful to recall what the lord advocate said in the Scottish Parliament on 16 January, writes former sheriff Douglas J. Cusine. “In September 2020, supported by Crown Off

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the case of Joanne Hughes on behalf of the late Caren Lorimer to the High Court of Justiciary for determination. In 2009, Mrs Lorimer pled guilty at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court to one charge of embezzlement from a post office. The court imposed

Post Office lawyers feared a public relations disaster if the Crown Office halted prosecutions, the public inquiry into the Horizon scandal has heard. In a witness statement, Kenneth Donnelly, deputy crown agent for specialist casework said that the Crown Office was approached in 2013 after provisio

Dear Editor, In the lord advocate’s statement to the Scottish Parliament on 16 January, she said that cases of those subpostmasters convicted of fraud would be referred to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and that all cases would be considered on their merits.