The Publish Workplace basic counsel failed to offer the Felony Circumstances Overview Fee (CCRC) proof that will have recognized the largest miscarriage of justice years earlier.
In a 2014 response to a CCRC request for an replace on a Publish Workplace evaluate of its personal prosecution technique and processes, Chris Aujard, interim basic council on the time, unnoticed particulars that will have raised critical issues over the security of Publish Workplace prosecutions.
In Could that 12 months, the CCRC was chasing the Publish Workplace authorized crew for details about the evaluate of its prosecution technique and processes.
The evaluate, carried out by Brian Altman KC, adopted issues being raised concerning the integrity of the Publish Workplace Horizon system after a report by impartial forensic investigations agency Second Sight.
The next month, Aujard signed and authorised a letter offering an replace to the CCRC, however failed to incorporate Altman’s findings, which revealed critical flaws within the Publish Workplace’s prosecutions. These included the truth that the professional witness utilized in trials had been discovered by attorneys contracted by the Publish Workplace to have given deceptive proof.
Throughout the newest Publish Workplace Horizon scandal public inquiry listening to, Flora Web page, a barrister representing victims of the scandal, referred to Aujard’s letter to the CCRC. The letter confirmed that Altman had accomplished his “evaluate of the Publish Workplace’s technique and course of for reviewing previous/present prosecutions”.
Signed by Aujard, it stated: “As you’d count on, Mr Altman’s evaluate was thorough, resulting in an in depth report, and I’m happy to verify that total, his view was that the evaluate (carried out on behalf of the Publish Workplace by an exterior agency of legal specialist solicitors) was essentially sound, and he didn’t detect any systemic or vital flaws within the evaluate course of, or within the proof arising from it.”
Particulars omitted
However the letter failed to offer particulars of Altman’s findings of main flaws within the Publish Workplace’s prosecutions technique and processes. Throughout Web page’s questioning of Aujard, she stated: “[The letter] is devoid of any point out of then points that the CCRC actually wanted to find out about, isn’t it?”
It failed to say recommendation given in July 2013 by barrister Simon Clarke (Clarke Recommendation) that professional witness Gareth Jenkins of Fujitsu had given deceptive proof in court docket trials, which was talked about repeatedly by Altman in his evaluate, nor did it point out the controversial Seema Misra case, which was talked about 15 occasions within the Altman evaluate, in line with Web page.
“You accepted that the contents of the Clarke recommendation was startling,” she stated. “There may be nothing of that startling nature [in this letter] is there? This can be a bland, reassuring letter aimed toward ensuring it will all simply go away. This can be a response that stated it’s peachy, every part is ok, isn’t it?”
Aujard stated the letter to the CCRC was in response to a selected request made to his predecessor, Susan Crichton, which he picked up. “That is the recommendation I had on the time from Brian Altman KC and Cartwright King [solicitors],” he stated. “It mirrored the totality of my understanding on the time.”
Paul Marshall, a barrister who represented the subpostmasters who efficiently overturned wrongful convictions by the Publish Workplace, stated: ” To explain [Aujard’s letter] as ‘sanitised’ could be masterful understatement.”
“It’s telling that when finally the Courtroom of Attraction supplied a replica of the Clarke Recommendation to the CCRC in November 2020, the CCRC’s response was to boost the chance that it is likely to be supplied to the Metropolitan Police.”
It was nearly two years later, and following Second Sight’s full Horizon investigation report – which included such criticisms because the Publish Workplace being too fast to take authorized motion, moderately than unravel the causes of unexplained accounting shortfalls – that the CCRC formally started reviewing subpostmasters’ claims of wrongful prosecution. It was practically 5 extra years earlier than the first wrongful subpostmaster convictions have been overturned.
Between 2000 and 2015, greater than 700 subpostmasters have been convicted of crimes reminiscent of fraud and theft, based mostly on proof from the Horizon retail and accounting system utilized in branches, which in 2019 was proved within the Excessive Courtroom to be susceptible to errors. Over 100 wrongful convictions have to this point been overturned, and the federal government has launched laws to overturn the rest.
The Publish Workplace scandal was first uncovered by Pc Weekly in 2009, revealing the tales of seven subpostmasters and the issues they suffered as a consequence of accounting software program (see timeline of Pc Weekly articles beneath).
• Additionally learn: What it’s good to know concerning the Horizon scandal •
• Additionally watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Publish Workplace: The actual story •
