Ministers have ordered the Post Office to probe claims a second IT system could have resulted in the wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters.
A string of former sub-postmasters have told the i newspaper they believe Capture, an accounting software introduced in Post Office branches in the 1990s, was faulty and to blame for financial discrepancies in their systems.
One, Steve Marston, 67, of Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, said Capture saw him convicted of theft and false accounting in 1998 – before the Horizon fiasco.
It is unknown which firm developed the Capture software.
Mr Marston said that he did not steal ‘a penny’ from the branch. He told the i: ‘They said pleading guilty was the only way to avoid going to jail.
The chief executive of the Post Office, Nick Read, admitted it is possible some of the victims’ money which vanished from the accounts of branch managers could have ended up in the ‘hefty numeration packages for executives’
![Steve Marston, 67, of Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, said Capture saw him convicted of theft and false accounting in 1998 - before the Horizon fiasco](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/19/02/80207435-12980723-Steve_Marston_67_of_Heap_Bridge_Greater_Manchester_said_Capture_-a-29_1705630643684.jpg)
Steve Marston, 67, of Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, said Capture saw him convicted of theft and false accounting in 1998 – before the Horizon fiasco
‘I just thought it must be something I’m doing wrong, computers were in their infancy, you didn’t think they could be wrong.
‘The more it went on I tried to hide it in the hope it would sort itself out.’
The 67-year-old said that he told the Post Office innocent, to which he claimed they responded and said that Capture ‘doesn’t make mistakes’.
Similarly, Jon Gregory said he was suspected of stealing money at his branch and was interviewed under caution.
He ran the branch in Sherfield-on-Loddon in Hampshire with his wife. No action was taken after he provided his own duplicate paper records.
Mr Gregory told the outlet that he felt pressured into purchasing the software by the Post Office in the 90s, describing it as ‘a dog to begin with’.
Sandra Brocklehurst, another former sub-postmaster located in Somerset, also recalled having issues with Capture during this period.
She said it worked fine at first but once they transferred to another office, the first balance was up £249.
She suspected that the fault was down to Capture’s system being unable to calculate the correct pension allowances.
Labour MP Kevan Jones, who has advocated for postmasters impacted by the Horizon scandal, said he knew of ‘five or six’ potential victims of Capture.
Former postmaster Alan Bates recently hit out at the ‘madness’ of the Post Office scandal compensation scheme and warned victims were ‘dying’ waiting for redress.
![Former postmaster Alan Bates recently hit out at the 'madness' of the Post Office scandal compensation scheme and warned victims were 'dying' waiting for redress](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/19/02/80207433-12980723-Former_postmaster_Alan_Bates_recently_hit_out_at_the_madness_of_-a-30_1705630643685.jpg)
Former postmaster Alan Bates recently hit out at the ‘madness’ of the Post Office scandal compensation scheme and warned victims were ‘dying’ waiting for redress
A spokesman for Department for Business and Trade, which owns the Post Office, said it has told the Post Office to investigate Mr Marston’s case to establish ‘if there are issues with any other systems currently or previously used by Post Office’.
A Post Office spokesman said it will examine allegations of wrongful convictions which pre-date the Horizon scandal.
More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faults with Fujitsu’s Horizon system used in Post Office branches made it appear that money was missing.
Just 93 convictions have been quashed so far, meaning hundreds of postmasters are unable to access compensation.
The chief executive of the Post Office, Nick Read, admitted it is possible some of the victims’ money which vanished from the accounts of branch managers could have ended up in the ‘hefty numeration packages for executives’.
He also blamed a ‘culture of denial’ for delays in giving compensation to subpostmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal.
A spokesman for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body that sends cases to the Court of Appeal, said: ‘If anyone feels they may have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice, we would urge them to come to us as soon as possible.’