A sub-postmaster who believes he has been wrongly convicted as a result of the Capture system says he is optimistic an independent investigation is underway and is confident the report will contain evidence where errors have been made occurred.
It has been announced that an investigation into the accounting software the Post Office used before the controversial Horizon system contacted sub-postmasters and would deliver findings this autumn.
Risk advisory and financial solutions company Kroll has been appointed to conduct an independent, forensic investigation into the system called Capture which was used in the 1990s before Horizon was rolled out in post offices.
A number of former sub-postmasters and mistresses have raised concerns that similar problems in the Capture system to those in the Horizon software have led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of people who worked in branches.
The news was welcomed by a former sub-postmaster and Capture user, Steve Marston, who believes he has been wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting.
“I’m definitely very optimistic about it,” Marston told Sky News.
Horizon data was used to prosecute more than 700 sub-postmasters and caused many more to be forced to repay alleged shortfalls at sites across the UK, suffering significant hardship in the process.
There is a separate, independent statutory public inquiry into the implementation and shortcomings of Horizon at the Post Office.
The government has agreed to an assessment by an independent IT expert of a post office software system that predates Horizon.
What happens now
On Tuesday, sub-postmasters said they were wrong convicted of capture errors were contacted with the news that Kroll had been appointed by the Department for Business and Trade to conduct the forensic investigation.
The work will “assess whether the design, implementation and use of the Post Office Capture system could have caused postmasters to suffer any harm,” Kroll said.
It will also be investigated whether the Post Office has properly investigated issues related to the system.
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The fact that the Post Office will not be involved was also welcomed by Mr Marston.
“They have no connection to the post office at all, in the sense that they cannot influence what is said, which is very important in what is going to happen,” he said.
The investigation was first announced in April after Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake met with a former sub-postmaster and a lawyer representing 35 people who believe they have been wrongly accused of theft.
They agreed that an independent IT expert would review evidence that purported to “prove” that Capture software was prone to failure.
Kroll also said it is collecting information about Capture from postmasters that could be relevant to the investigation.
‘It takes a long time’
While Kroll didn’t give a more precise timeline than “fall,” Mr. Marston said he was happy to wait.
“It took a long time,” he said. “I mean, this goes back to the 1990s.
“We only started this process in mid-January… it has come a long, long way.”
The process should not take as long as the Horizon investigation – which was established in September 2020 – because Capture was a small, simplistic program, Mr Marston said.
It was a standalone system and did not include the complex networks inherent in Horizon.
What now
Mr Marston said he is confident the report will provide evidence that will allow arrest convictions to be reassessed.
However, he is concerned about the government after the elections and the commitment to resolve the Capture issues.
“We are aware of the fact that the elections are around the corner. And of course it is a concern… if there is a change of government, will the new government implement what we have been promised?”