THE Post Office has decided not to oppose an appeal lodged by the widow of a former Redditch subpostmaster who was wrongly convicted of false accounting.
It means Karen Wilson has a clear path in quashing the conviction on behalf of her husband, Julian, who tragically died in August 2016 before seeing his name cleared.
Post Office chairman, Tim Parker, said the organisation would cooperate with the Criminal Cases Reviews Commission, which has referred 44 of the 47 cases to the court of appeal for re-examination.
The couple, who ran the Astwood Bank Post Office on Evesham Road from 2001 to 2008, fought against Julian’s conviction for many years.
Julian was sentenced to do 300 hours of community service after the Post Office’s controversial accounting software, Horizon IT system, created major shortfalls in their accounts.
When auditors arrived Julian believed the issue would be resolved, but instead the Post Office suspended him over the £27,000 shortfall despite it being due to the faulty system.
He was told to plead guilty to avoid prison and the couple were forced to sell their Post Office to pay back the money which was alleged to have gone missing.
But knowing that justice would eventually be served, Karen continued the fight after Julian’s passing from cancer.
The 65-year-old told the Standard: “The fact they won’t appose the appeal is fantastic because I’ve had a tsunami in my brain and heart for the last 12 years.
“It’s mixed emotions of course, it’s bitter sweet. He should be here to see this.
“We have a few more steps to go but to know his conviction will be quashed is unreal, I’m over-the-moon and so is Julian’s daughter Emma, his brothers and our friends.
“This is not about money, I couldn’t care less about that, it’s about justice.
“How can you put a price on life? You could give me all the money in the world but I’d still much rather have my soul mate back with me.”
Post Office lawyers’ decision to not appeal makes it almost certain that all convictions will be quashed.
However Court of Appeal judges must decide and the Post Office can seek a retrial.
Julian often told Karen that the Post Office would eventually be held accountable, saying that ‘no organisation should be that powerful’.
“He used to say to me that it feels like he’s carrying a ball and chain around with him and he just wants someone to cut it free,” added Karen.
“Well, we’ve cut it free now.”
Tim Parker, chairman of the Post Office, said he is sincerely sorry on behalf of the Post Office for historical failings which seriously affected some postmasters.
“Post Office is resetting its relationship with postmasters with reforms that prevent such past events ever happening again,” he said.
