31 Scottish convictions from Post Office Horizon scandal now quashed, MSPs told

Emergency legislation passed by Holyrood has quashed more than 30 convictions to clear the names of those wrongly convicted as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal, the Justice Secretary confirmed.

Angela Constance said that “to date” 31 convictions had been quashed by the legislation, while almost 100 other cases were being considered.

Most of the cases where convictions have been quashed are “priority cases”, where people had either referred themselves or had an application before the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, the Justice Secretary added.

It comes after the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act legislated for police and court records to be amended for those who have suffered miscarriages of justice.

Passed as emergency legislation by MSPs in May, the Act is also intended to allow those affected by the scandal – in which subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of offences such as fraud because of the faulty Horizon software – to access the UK compensation scheme.

Ms Constance had said previously that 141 cases were being examined in the wake of the legislation.

However, in an update provided to MSPs on Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee she explained that 44 of these were found to be outside its remit.

“This reduces the total number of cases currently being considered by Scottish Government to 97,” the Justice Secretary said – although she added that “this number may change”.

The process of identifying possible cases is “ongoing”, Ms Constance confirmed, adding that a “further sifting of historic convictions is expected”.

She also said that individuals who believe they have suffered a miscarriage of justice “could themselves come forward for assessment also”.

The 44 cases confirmed as being outside of the remit of the Act either did not result in a conviction or an alternative to prosecution, Ms Constance explained.

She said: “In addition to informing convicting courts of the quashed conviction, the Scottish Government has put in place a process with the UK Government Department of Business and Trade whereby quashed conviction notification letters will be shared with them when requested.

“This supports individuals who qualify for the Redress Scheme to access compensation without any delay.”