The Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) was designed by the Justice for Postmasters alliance (JFSA) and Freeths, the national law firm that secured the historic High Court victory for its 555 sub-postmaster clients, exposing Britain’s largest miscarriage of justice. It is aimed at postmasters who were wrongly convicted and have not yet received compensation.
James Hartley, partner and national head of dispute resolution at Freeths, said: ‘We remain focused on achieving full and fair compensation for the postmasters who we acted for in the successful high court proceedings.
‘We want to ensure that everyone is properly compensated to help them recover from the devastating consequences of the Post Office Horizon scandal.’
Those who are eligible for the HCRS will have either managed or worked (with or without an employment contract) in a Post Office branch that was using or had installed the Horizon system. They must have been convicted between 23 September 1996 and 31 December 2018 of offences including false accounting, theft or fraud (including conspiracy to commit these offences).
Applicants must have been based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland as Scotland has a separate system. Relatives of deceased victims are also able to apply.
Sir Alan Bates, the former subpostmaster who led the JFSA and whose painstaking work to prove the Post Office’s accusations wrong was the subject of the ITV drama Mr Bates v The Post Office, said: ‘It has taken a long time to get to this point, but now is the opportunity for all eligible people to come forward, clear your names and seek financial redress.
‘So I urge and recommend that you contact Freeths to check your eligibility and pursue your claims.’
Freeths can be contacted about the scheme at OverTurnedConvictionTeam@freeths.co.uk.
