Four suspects identified in Post Office Horizon probe, police say

Four suspects have been identified by police investigating potential criminal charges as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

The Metropolitan Police said more potential suspects will be identified as the investigation into one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in UK history progresses.

More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.

Hundreds are still awaiting compensation despite the previous government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

The Met said members of the investigating team met lead campaigner and former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates on Sunday to provide an update on the inquiry.

Detectives have previously said they are looking into allegations of fraud, perjury and perverting the course of justice in relation to investigations and prosecutions carried out by the Post Office.

Two people have been interviewed under caution but nobody has been arrested since the investigation was launched in January 2020.

In a statement, police said: “On Sunday 17 November, members of the investigating team met with Sir Alan Bates and a number of affected subpostmasters to provide an update on our progress and next steps, following an invitation to do so.

“Our investigation team, comprising of officers from forces across the UK, is now in place and we will be sharing further details in due course.

“The team is preparing to contact other affected subpostmasters soon.”

The statement added: “Whilst four suspects have been formally identified at this stage, this number will grow as the investigation progresses.”

The update from the Met came as Post Office minister Gareth Thomas was quizzed by MPs on the organisation’s and the Government’s legal costs for redressing victims of the scandal.

Former postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake previously apologised at the Horizon IT inquiry for allowing the previous government to “arm themselves with lawyers” while attempting to sort out redress.

Asked if he agreed with Mr Hollinrake that it would be a concern if the Government armed itself with lawyers, Mr Thomas told the Business and Trade Committee: “Arming up, absolutely, I would be very uncomfortable with that sort of phrase.”

Asked if he believed the previous government was armed up with lawyers, he continued: “I’m not going to comment on what went before other than just to say what I have been clear about is that we want both a faster compensation process, but one that still delivers full and fair settlements.”

Where we've got concerns about the cost of legal advice - as we very much so have in terms of some of the lawyers that the Post Office are currently using - we've been clear to make our concerns crystal clear to the Post Office

Chairman of the committee Liam Byrne interjected: “We can tell you what went before, because the total legal bill that the taxpayer has spent on lawyers for this miscarriage of justice is about £268 million.”

Mr Thomas replied: “As I alluded to earlier, Mr Byrne, we are trying to take a number of steps to speed up the compensation process, and where we’ve got concerns about the cost of legal advice – as we very much so have in terms of some of the lawyers that the Post Office are currently using – we’ve been clear to make our concerns crystal clear to the Post Office going forwards.”

Mr Byrne asked: “Is the Post Office spending too much on lawyers?”

Mr Thomas said: “We’ve encouraged them to look again, let me put it like that, at how much they’re paying and what they’re asking lawyers to do.

“Certainly we think some of the tasks the lawyers are doing could be done in a less costly way.”

The committee chairman said: “Sounds like ‘yes’.”

“Yes, it probably is a yes, Mr Byrne,” Mr Thomas responded.