The first Post Office Capture conviction is to be sent to the Court of Appeal, Sky News understands, in a “breakthrough” moment in the IT scandal.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has decided to refer the case of sub-postmistress Patricia Owen, who was convicted in 1998 of theft.
Mrs Owen was found guilty by a jury based on evidence from the faulty IT software Capture, which was used in 2,500 branches between 1992 and 1999, before the Horizon Post Office scandal.
It comes after Sky News revealed that a damning report into Capture, which could help overturn criminal convictions, had been unearthed after nearly 30 years.
The decision to refer the first-ever Capture case to the Court of Appeal has been made on the grounds that Mrs Owen’s prosecution was an “abuse of process”.
The development has been described by victims’ lawyer Neil Hudgell as “hugely pivotal”.
“The Court of Appeal don’t receive that many referrals that start at the CCRC, and most get turned away, so it’s a very high bar to even get cases from the CCRC to the Court of Appeal…”
“I think it will be a real shot in the arm to all the other Capture victims who are waiting for their cases to be determined by the CCRC.”
Mr Hudgell described the report found earlier this year – written by computer experts in 1998 and highly critical of Capture – as “significantly tipping the balance”.
Sky News found that the Post Office knew about the report at the time and continued to prosecute sub-postmasters based on Capture evidence.
Pat Owen always maintained her innocence but died in 2003 with a criminal record before the wider Post Office scandal came to light.
Her daughter Juliet Shardlow said she cried when she heard the news that her mother’s case would be referred to the Court of Appeal.
“I feel angry that she is not here because she died before her time… we will be there – we will be sitting there in that front row.
“I can’t put it into words because it’s still all a shock that we are where we are and that later this year, or next year, we might have what we set out to get… justice for her.”
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The CCRC is currently investigating 30 cases potentially related to the Capture software system.
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Twenty-seven of those cases are now assigned to case review managers and under “active review”, with a further three cases in the preparatory stages.
The CCRC has described a “challenge” over determining “whether cases involved the use of Capture at the time of the alleged offences”.
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In a letter written to Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, and seen by Sky News, it said that information the Post Office has provided “does not, in most cases, show whether it was installed and in operation at the time of the alleged offending”.
It also mentioned that the Post Office is reviewing “a significant amount of data which may contain further information”.
Sky News has reached out to the Post Office for comment.
