The family of a former sub-postmaster caught up in the Capture scandal is receiving a huge payout – but the Post Office still won’t help overturn his wife’s criminal conviction.
Bill Roberts ran the Liscard Post Office near Liverpool in the mid-90s and lost at least £46,000 due to the faulty IT system.
In a series of investigations, The i Paper has revealed how sub-postmasters were forced to hand over cash, sacked and in some cases prosecuted by the Post Office due to errors caused by Capture which predates the notorious Horizon system.
The Government has since set up a new compensation system which has now paid out more than £3.5m.
One of the largest payouts is believed to be the six-figure sum paid to the family of Mr Roberts, who died in 2019, before the second scandal was unearthed.
An independent panel which considered Mr Roberts’s case found he had suffered financial losses, distress and inconvenience and legal and reputational harm at a “very high level”.
But the family are left in the “absurd” situation that although the Government admits Capture faults caused the losses at the Liscard Post Office, the criminal conviction of Mr Roberts’s wife Liz still stands.
Mrs Roberts, a former nurse, worked alongside her husband and managed the accounts at the time Capture started causing unexplained shortfalls.
The couple insisted that they were not to blame but the Post Office refused to listen and prosecuted Mrs Roberts with theft in 1999.
Bill and Liz Roberts shortly after she was released from prisonDespite being pressured to plead guilty by Post Office investigators, Mrs Roberts refused to admit to taking any money and the family were left devastated when a jury found her guilty.
She was sent to prison just days before Chris turned 17 and served 13 months inside.
The family campaigned to clear her name long after she was freed but sadly Mrs Roberts died while suffering from Alzheimer’s aged 73, only weeks after The i Paper first revealed the Capture scandal in February 2024.
Her case now sits with the miscarriages of justice watchdog the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) but progress has been slow.
Campaigners have been left incensed by further delays as the Post Office has lodged objections against the first two Capture cases to be referred by the CCRC to the Court of Appeal.
The i Paper understands that in the cases of both Steve Marston and Patricia Owen, two former sub-postmasters both convicted in 1998, the Post Office is insisting that although Capture was faulty, its evidence was not central to their convictions.
The Post Office is also arguing that because it sent out bulletins to sub-postmasters admitting to Capture having faults at the time, sub-postmasters received a “fair trial”.
Steve Marston, centre, and other former sub-postmasters meeting Government officials about the Capture scandal (Photo: Tom Pilston)The cases will now proceed to a final three-day hearing but Lord Justice Edis told family members the case may not be heard before 2027.
Lord Kevan Jones, the Labour peer who has long campaigned for Post Office victims, hit out at the absurdity of the situation facing the family of Mrs Roberts.
“It shows how stupid it is,” he told The i Paper. “After a long fight, these people are rightly being compensated but the cruelty is continuing by not having these convictions overturned. We are only talking about 30 people or so.
“The Government should bring forward legislation like we did with Horizon.”
Chris Roberts added: “The logic doesn’t stack up.
“It’s one of those instances where there are multiple systems running side by side but it doesn’t work. It needs to be coherent and a lot faster than it is – the most depressing thing is the lack of empathy.”
In one of the final acts of the Conservative government, former Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake brought forward legislation which quashed the convictions of around 900 people relating to the Horizon IT system.
Ministers took the unpreecedented decision because it would have taken a further 15 years to clear the backlog of cases waiting to be heard by the Court of Appeal.
However, Labour’s Post Officer minister Blair McDougall has so far refused to commit to doing the same for Capture victims.
He told The i Paper earlier this month that while he understands the “sense of frustration” he believes they must go through the court process to have their names cleared.
Solicitor Neil Hudgell, who is representing the Roberts family, said: “We welcome any speedy redress through the provision of compensation in the Capture redress scheme. However, it is a very different story when it comes to those seeking to overturn convictions, where the Post Office is set to oppose cases which have been referred to the Court of Appeal by the CCRC.
“The Government and Post Office have publicly acknowledged the significant failings with Capture and last year actively encouraged people to come forward to challenge their convictions through the appeals process.
“However, when it comes to the reality, despite its mealy-mouthed public statements of ‘assisting the court’, the Post Office is strongly opposing the exoneration of sub-postmasters. It seems not to have learned any lessons from the past, and simply continues to cause more distress and suffering on the people whose lives it ruined.
“Our fight for justice for these clients will continue on at the Court of Appeal.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Postmasters have faced serious historic injustices, and we continue to listen to those who have been sharing their stories on the Capture software. Ensuring postmasters are treated with dignity and respect is our absolute priority.
“It is vital we let the independent judiciary consider the safety of convictions through the established criminal appeals process.”
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We want all unsafe convictions to be overturned and are doing all we can to ensure appeals are heard as quickly as possible.
“This is entirely a decision for the Court once they have considered all relevant information, and Post Office will welcome their considered guidance.
“We will continue to participate fully and transparently in the process of assisting Mr Marston, Ms Owen’s family and the Court where we can, and we look forward to a hearing date being set by the Court as soon as they are able to do so.”
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