Post Office Capture users invited to pivotal meeting with government

The government has invited former subpostmasters to a meeting next month o discuss its response to evidence that a second Post Office IT system wrecked lives.

Former users of the Post Office’s Capture accounting software will learn the government’s planned response to the findings of a forensic investigation by Kroll, which found a “reasonable likelihood” that Capture software, like Horizon, caused accounting discrepancies for which they were blamed.

The Capture accounting system, used in branches in the 1990s, has become part of the Post Office scandal, which was triggered by errors in the Horizon computer system introduced in 1999 to all Post Office branches.

It was proved in the High Court in 2019 that the Horizon software caused unexplained accounting shortfalls, which subpostmasters were held responsible for. Many were financially ruined by repaying phantom losses and hundreds were wrongly convicted of financial crimes, with more than 100 jailed. The Post Office Horizon scandal is now considered one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history.

Since ITV broadcast a dramatisation of the Post Office scandal, revealing how Horizon errors wrecked lives, former subpostmasters have come forward with stories of problems with the Capture system. Former Capture users were also prosecuted and convicted, some lost businesses and many had huge financial losses from repaying shortfalls.

Under extreme public scrutiny, the government and the Post Office acted quickly to recognise the Capture issue, in contrast with the Horizon problems which took almost 20 years and hundreds of millions of pounds before the Post Office and government acknowledged there was a problem.

About 80 former Capture users have now come forward to Hudgell Solicitors for support with their cases.

Unlike Horizon, which is a major enterprise system that connects to Post Office systems and is used in all branches, of which there are about 12,000, Capture was software that the subpostmaster could buy and download onto a PC to do their accounts. A total of about 2,000 branches used Capture, but the extent of problems is difficult to ascertain because many used it over 30 years ago. As a consequence, information is scarce and some users have passed away since.

Steve Marston is one of the subpostmasters affected. He was convicted in 1996 for theft and false accounting following an unexplained shortfall of nearly £80,000 while using Capture. His conviction is currently being reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), along with others related to the use of Capture.

Marston received an email informing him of the government’s plans to hold an online meeting with former Capture users in December to discuss next steps.

The email from the department of business and trade (DBT) unit dealing with Horizon convictions redress and Capture at the Post Office directorate, said: “We are continuing to finalise the government response to the Kroll investigation and are now in the final stages of the process we need to go through to ensure we have agreement across government to publish the response.

“On convictions, we continue to work closely with the CCRC who are reviewing the cases that have been submitted to them for review. I can assure you that they are working hard to ensure the review moves as quickly as possible, but that the review is also thorough. They have been gathering evidence from multiple sources.”

Charlotte Heyes, deputy director Horizon Convictions Redress & Capture, Post Office directorate, at the DBT, said in an email to a former Capture user: “On the next meeting with me, I am keen that we schedule it at a time that I can talk you through what the response [to the Kroll report] will say.  I am hoping that we can schedule the meeting either the end of week commencing 9 December or the beginning of week commencing 16 December.  If acceptable, I would propose that we hold the meeting online rather than in person to avoid the need for people to travel." 

Another affected subpostmaster is Steve Lewis, from South Wales, who had worked for the Post Office since 1983, originally as a counter clerk, and was a Post Office auditor for a number of years.

When he suffered unexplained losses, he was told by the Post Office that he was an isolated case. He lost his business, had to sell his home and suffered mental health issues, with related relationship troubles. He told Computer Weekly that a lot has happened quickly as Capture claimants were able to come forward after the long, hard work of Horizon victims had exposed Post Office wrongdoing.

“We know now what we believed 25 years ago,” he said. “Capture victims should have the same financial redress and criminal conviction exonerations as Horizon victims.”

Peer Kevan Jones, who has campaigned for many years for justice for subpostmasters affected by Horizon errors, said: “The Kroll report was clear these individuals have been wronged. The government needs to put in place a compensation scheme, and those found guilty in a court should have convictions overturned.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We were horrified to learn about the issues with the Capture system and are working closely across government to thoroughly examine Kroll’s independent report and consider what action should be taken.

“We continue to listen to postmasters and others who have been sharing their views on the report’s findings since its publication. We will be publishing our response in December, which will set out next steps.”

There are now calls for former Crown branch workers and subpostmasters who used a system known as ECCO+ to come forward if they believe they suffered due to errors in the system. Civil servants met with subpostmaster representatives recently to gather information about the system, which is believed to have been marketed to subpostmasters in the 1990s.

Two former users of the ECCO+ system have so far come forward to Hudgell Solicitors and are now clients.

David Enright, partner at Howe & Co Solicitors, has represented hundreds of subpostmasters fighting for justice in the Post Office scandal. He said: “If you carry out a review of Horizon and Capture, fairness demands you do the same for ECCO+.”

Also read: Post Office scandal: How much deeper and wider can it get?