Lawyers will come before the Post Office Inquiry over the next week to explain the roles they played in the prosecutions of post-masters.
Stephen Dilley of Womble Bond Dickinson will appear on Thursday to be quizzed about the conduct of civil proceedings. Dilley was named in Castleton's witness statement in which Castleton accuses Dilley of threatened him.
Similarly, Richard Morgan KC will appear on Friday to give evidence. With solicitor and Post Office legal case manager Mandy Talbot appearing before the inquiry next Tuesday. Talbot was named during submissions accused of having tried to keep an expert's report into the reliability into Horizon's system out of the public domain.
The UK Government has announced that every Postmaster who was wrongfully convicted, and subsequently had that conviction overturned will be offered £600,000 in compensation. Any Postmaster that does not wish to accept the offer may continue with the existing process.
Postmasters will also continue to receive funds to cover legal fees. To date, 86 convictions have been overturned and £21m has been paid in compensation. Post Officer Minister Kevin Hollinrake MP said: "[it] is about righting a wrong and providing some form of relief to those wrongfully caught up in this scandal".
The Post Office began installing Horizon accounting software in the late 1990's, faults in the software led to shortfalls in accounts and the Post Office demanded that Postmasters make up the shortfall, many were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 for false accounting or theft.
This comes a little too late for some Postmasters like Noel Thomas and Lee Castleton have already felt the effects. The former (Thomas) was sent to prison for false accounting and spent 9 months in jail, whilst the latter (Castleton) was made bankrupt following a week long trial in which he was unrepresented.
Castleton (left) pictured with Thomas (Right)
Mr Thomas said that the £600,000 will not repay what they [affected postmasters] have lost from the Horizon scandal. Harjinder Butoy served 18 months in prison and also said that the payment was insufficient. He has said that he will not be tempted by the offer of "quick and easy money".
Mr Hollinrake admitted that for some it would not be enough and that "no amount of money will ever be enough".
The Horizon Inquiry is investigating the scandal and is likely to conclude in 2024. The boss of the Post Office, Nick Read, has agreed to return his bonus of £54,400 for his participation in the inquiry.
This is the first sitting of the inquiry since a one-day hearing into failures of disclosure. Sir Wyn Williams said that the process failures were those of advisers KPMG and Herbert Smith Freehills, but ultimately the Post Office must take ultimate responsibility.
