Historic week ahead

Next Monday, 42 Subpostmasters will aim to have their criminal convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. Nothing quite like this has ever happened before.

I have been lucky enough to secure a place in the well of the main court and I will be live-tweeting every twist of proceedings.

I will also write a daily court report for the www.postofficetrial.com website and a daily secret email so you can get the inside track on what’s going on.

I’ve been speaking to a number of people close to the process and as far as I understand it, the first two days will be spent arguing limb two of the CCRC’s statement of reasons, which contended that the prosecution of the referred Subpostmasters was/is an “affront to the public conscience”.

The remaining two days will be spent on the three Subpostmasters whose referral the Post Office is contesting on both grounds.

Long time coming

The four Subpostmasters whose convictions are being contested on neither ground will be “considered” by the court after the first two days hearing. They include Noel Thomas and Jo Hamilton, stalwarts of the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance who have been campaigning with Alan Bates since the very beginning.

Both Jo and Noel were featured in the first ever piece of written journalism on this story and the first ever piece of TV journalism on this story (S4C’s Taro Naw, 2009).

In fact I think I am right in saying that the producers of that programme filmed Noel and Jo meeting each other for the first time outside South Warnborough Village Stores in Hampshire, Jo’s former Post Office!

I don’t think it’s up online anywhere, but I have the DVD somewhere.

Both Jo and Noel have always been so helpful and gracious. They were alway willing to explain their stories and let reporters and camera crews into their homes. They’ve had to put up with so much and I don’t mind telling you I am very fond of them both, and their wonderful families.

I am grateful to Jo and Noel for letting me tell people about their lives, as I am to every other Subpostmaster who has given me the time of day.

It’s taken all this time for the Post Office to admit what happened to them should never have taken place.

Judgment day(s)

One bit of confusion hanging over proceedings is the day the judgment(s) will be delivered. It could be Friday next week, but I am told that is unlikely. I have heard 12 or 23 April mentioned as possible dates.

I don’t know if this means any convictions will be formally quashed next week, if it will just be the four uncontested ones, or what. I suspect we will only find out on Tuesday.

Government picks up the tab

Having spent most of the month involved buried in documentation, researching the magnum opus, I am a little concerned I might be losing my nose for a news line.

I sat through last week’s (failed) Judicial Review application which aimed to pause the Historical Shortfall Scheme (HSS), during which all parties in the hearing talked matter-of-factly about the government now funding the HSS rather than the Post Office.

This struck me as odd, but as everyone seemed to think it was unremarkable, I didn’t realise it was a potential scoop.

I certainly didn’t act on it – it was only when I was forwarded yesterday’s ministerial statement I realised this was a) new and b) a big deal.

If you missed it, the Postal Affairs minister Paul Scully announced that the HSS had had so many applicants, if the Post Office had to make the payouts it would go bankrupt, or in minister-speak:

” the cost of the Scheme is beyond what the business can afford”

The solution? The government are going to fund the HSS instead.

Tom Witherow at the Daily Mail has done his usual excellent job on writing this up. I emailed BEIS (the government department which owns the Post Office and is therefore now funding the HSS) some questions about how they are going to monitor or get involved with the funding decisions, or whether they’re just signing the cheques on the taxpayers behalf.

They replied:

“It is essential that we determine precisely what went wrong at the Post Office during this period to make sure something like this cannot happen again. To ensure the right lessons have been learnt and to establish what must change, we have launched an independent, judge-led inquiry, which continues to make progress.”

Thanks, lads.

There are two possible consequences to BEIS taking on fiduciary responsibility for scheme:

a) it makes it easier for parliamentarians to put pressure on the government to hold those responsible for this scandal to account;

b) it strengthens the JFSA’s moral case for receiving compensation for the legal fees which wiped out most of the High Court claimants’ settlement.

Let’s hope MPs and peers mobilise after next week.

Incidentally, I have already had one former Subpostmaster tell me they have been offered (and accepted) a sum of money from the HSS. I am politely trying to find out how much!

Goodbye, Angela

As predicted via earlier secret emails, Angela van den Bogerd, the former Post Office director who tried to mislead a judge in court, has followed her boss out of the door at the Football Association of Wales. I think the moral of this story is don’t try to mislead a judge in court, and don’t try to take a job where your fellow executives are accountable to a powerful body of volunteers, who have a strong moral compass.

Given the punishment meted out to innocent Subpostmasters on Ms van den Bogerd’s watch it’s hard to have any sympathy for her, but there is no way she should be the only fall guy for this scandal.

Despite being called a director, Ms van den Bogerd was never on the Post Office board. The silence from Post Office board members and ministers about the cover up which occurred between 2013 and 2015 is shameful. If everyone involved acted properly, then why is no one talking about it? The truth will not come out until one of the people involved is either compelled or volunteers to explain what happened.

I was hoping to write either a state-of-the-nation-where-are-we-now piece in advance of next week’s hearing or a more simple preview, but two wonderful journalists have both beaten me to it, and done a far better job than I could.

If you have a spare 20 minutes, Tony Collins has put together another tour de force. It is a blistering read.

If you want a bit more information about what’s happening next week, do click through to Karl Flinders’ piece for Computer Weekly. It’s very good.

More secret emailers!

I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has donated and bought a book over the past seven days. It’s a marvellous incentive to write it. I am going to send the first chunk off to my editor on Sunday so he can see what I’m cooking up and I can focus on what’s happening next week.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks again for sending me the things you come across – this newsletter would be empty without you!

Best

Nick