A new law, expected to come into effect by the end of July, is set to clear the names of hundreds of people wrongly convicted in the Post Office (PO) Horizon scandal.
The new law is to apply to those in England and Wales, and will quash all convictions defined by a “clear and objective criteria”.
The move comes following public outrage sparked by ITV’s drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, depicting the fight for justice by more than 700 postmasters after they were wrongly prosecuted based on information from faulty accounting system, called Horizon.
On 10 January, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced a new law would be created to ensure victims of the PO’s Horizon IT scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated”.
PO minister Kevin Hollinrake announced the plans today, and said the legislation was likely to “exonerate a number of people who were, in fact, guilty of a crime”.
He added: “The government accepts that this is a price worth paying in order to ensure that many innocent people are exonerated.”
Speaking to Better Retailing, Vince Malone, of Tenby Stores and PO, Pembrokeshire, said: “I think that it’s great news for the indivudals. it was a travesty so many were prosecuted and impacted them in that way. The consequences are far-ranging. Comprehensive and fair recompenses for this misjustice is needed as soon as possible.”
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