Scotland’s Lord Advocate apologises over Post Office computer cover-up scandal

Scotland’s top law officer has apologised to victims of the Post Office computer scandal. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, said Post Office workers had been failed by the criminal justice system.

She said the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), which has sole responsibility for prosecuting cases in Scotland, had been misled by the Post Office.

Ms Bain said she understood the “anger” of victims.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted across the UK accused of theft and false accounting based on evidence from the faulty Horizon software.

First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he would work with the UK government to ensure victims in Scotland are exonerated.

Ms Bain, who was appointed lord advocate in 2021, apologised in a statement to parliament.

“I am very deeply troubled by what has occurred,” she told MSPs. “And I remain acutely concerned that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was repeatedly misled by the Post Office.  Assurances which just weren’t true were repeatedly given.”

Ms Bain said victims had been “failed by trusted institutions and the criminal justice system”.

She told MSPs the COPFS [Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service]  was first told of issues with Horizon evidence in May 2013, but the Post Office said an external law firm had reviewed all potentially impacted cases and concluded there were no concerns about accuracy of evidence in Scotland as well as an independent report which found no issues with Horizon.

In August of that year, the COPFS told prosecutors to “carefully consider” cases where Horizon was a factor, while the following month the Post Office agreed to seek expert advice and a further report on Horizon – which they “failed to deliver” on time, Ms Bain said.

It was not until October 2015 when the Crown Office told its prosecutors to “assess all Post Office cases” with orders issued to “discontinue or take no action in cases which relied on evidence from the Horizon system to prove a crime had been committed”.

The lord advocate said the Post Office did not tell prosecutors about known Horizon issues throughout this period.

The lord advocate said the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) wrote to 73 people in September 2020 who may have been convicted on the basis of unreliable evidence from the Horizon system and invited them to apply for their case to be reviewed.

Ms Bain told MSPs that 16 people had come forward. Seven cases had been referred to the High Court and four had resulted in convictions being overturned.

The COPFS had also assessed past cases, finding that 54 could have been affected by faulty evidence.

Ms Bain acknowledged calls for allegations of criminality in the Post Office to be investigated, but said such as step would need to be done at a “UK national level”.

The consideration of any potential criminal activity by the Post Office in Scotland would need to wait until the inquiry had concluded and “the full scale of their actions is understood”, she told MSPs.

Some have called for the lord advocate to clear victims of the scandal en masse through the Court of Appeal.

But while Ms Bain acknowledged there had been “long drawn out processes” to establish miscarriages of justice, she said that was necessary to ensure transparency and accuracy.

First Minister Humza Yousaf, Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Conservative Justice spokesperson Russell Findlay and LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton commented later.

“Not every case involving Horizon evidence will be a miscarriage of justice and each case must be considered carefully and with regard to the law,” she added.

The lord advocate said the vast majority of convictions involved a guilty verdict and that prosecutors would not proceed with a case in the absence on corroboration, nor would a sheriff convict without it.

Ms Bain explained the Post Office is considered a reporting agency by the Crown Office in Scotland, meaning it can refer offences for prosecution.

She told MSPs she had “sought urgent advice” on that status.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Russell Findlay said the scandal was a “disgraceful mass failure of justice”.

He said that prosecutors had known about Horizon concerns as early as January 2013 but did not abandon all new prosecutions for a further two years.

However, Ms Bain said this was incorrect and based on an inaccurate Post Office document submitted to the UK inquiry.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar questioned why it had taken until 2015 for the COPFS to halt new prosecutions, and why immediate action was not taken to review previous, potentially unsound, convictions.

Referencing potential criminal cases against the Post Office, he said “criminal activity in Scotland should be investigated in Scotland” and does not need to wait for the UK public inquiry.

“Sub-postmasters in Scotland have waited long enough for justice. They shouldn’t have to wait a moment longer.”

Responding to the Lord Advocate’s statement, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:  “This has been one of the most appalling miscarriages of justice in our national story. Lives and livelihoods have been ruined. Former Post Office workers across all four nations are now, rightly, pursuing the justice that they have been denied for so long.

“It’s clear from the Lord Advocate’s statement that the Crown Office, like members of the public, the press and government officials, were repeatedly lied to as part of an industrial scale deception.

“The Lord Advocate confirmed that there will be consideration of any criminality by the Post Office, after the conclusion of the public inquiry, if complaints are made to Police Scotland.

“So, can I ask the Lord Advocate whether this consideration would apply solely to the Post Office as an agency as a whole, or whether it could apply to specific individuals within that agency and whether Police Scotland can act on the findings of the inquiry directly or if it would need a third party complaint to begin legal proceedings in Scotland.”

ENDS