The first Clarke Advice

Pic: Jenny Gavin-Wear 
Copyright: Copyright JGW Photography 2016

The Clarke Advice was written by the barrister Simon Clarke (above) when he worked for Cartwright King in 2013.

I’m not sure it is has been published in full before, so here it is:

For context as to the importance of this advice, see:

What’s in the 2013 Simon Clarke document?

Oral submission to support the application to receive the Clarke advice

Barrister quits over Clarke Advice order

There’s plenty more to dig through on the Post Office Trial website, predecessor to this one. My book (if I might give that a plug) puts the advice, its fall-out, the subsequent Post Office cover-up and the extraordinary reluctance of the Post Office to allow it to be made public even as late as 2021 all into context.

You may also want to read Simon Clarke’s next advice to the Post Office, known as the ‘Shredding’ advice.


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21 responses to “The first Clarke Advice”

  1. […] is July 2013 – the Clarke Advice, written by Smith’s colleague, the barrister Simon Clarke, has been issued to the Post […]

  2. […] McCausland seemed to have a relatively decent grip of the issues at stake (integrity of the Horizon IT system’s financial data, potential miscarriages of justice) but he fell into a lot of traps set by the Post Office (particularly their inability to handle Second Sight and the information Second Sight were generating) and he was simply not told about the existence of the Clarke Advice. […]

  3. […] report for being too emotional, or failing to investigate John Scott or reacting more firmly to the explosive first Clarke Advice. She only clung to her integrity when the gangsters running the show turned on her. No matter how […]

  4. […] role to McCall soon became apparent when Sam Stevens, asking questions for the Inquiry, referred to the Clarke Advice, a pivotal document, central to the entire scandal, which was sent to McCall by the Inquiry to help […]

  5. […] all centres on the first Clarke Advice, the legal document written in July 2013 which was kept hidden from the government, MPs, […]

  6. what the inquiry has had to listen to in some instances is an “orchestrated litanly of lies” quote
    Justice Peter Mahon, Royal commission into the Erebus Air NewZealand disaster

  7. […] we now know, the Interim Report led to the First Clarke Advice which prompted a review (by Cartwright King) of all Post Office prosecutions after 2010. This was […]

  8. […] useful bit of information de Garr Robinson was appraised of was the First Clarke Advice. This document made it clear that Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins should never be used as a witness […]

  9. […] to tell the board about Second Sight’s Interim Report, the letter from the CCRC and the first Clarke Advice – a document Crichton had received the day before and evidently wasn’t ready to forward to […]

  10. […] admitted he was the information source for Second Sight’s bug notice. That led to the first Clarke Advice in which Simon Clarke told the Post Office that Jenkins was a tainted witness who could not be used […]

  11. […] ask what Vennells knew about the faults with the IT system and when. She might also be asked about the advice the Post Office received in 2013 from an external lawyer, Simon Clarke. This criticised the […]

  12. […] ask what Vennells knew about the faults with the IT system and when. She might also be asked about the advice the Post Office received in 2013 from an external lawyer, Simon Clarke. This criticised the […]

  13. […] to note that whilst the Rose report was an exceptionally important document, and used to inform the Clarke Advice, which led to the cessation of all Post Office prosecutions, Mrs Rose had no information on the […]

  14. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  15. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  16. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  17. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  18. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  19. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  20. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

  21. […] and yet this information was either ignored or suppressed. A legal opinion from lawyer Simon Clarke from 2013 criticising the reliability of a key witness used in the Post Office’s prosecutions, only came to […]

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