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CCRC makes decision to refer first Post Office ‘Capture’ Case  

Published:

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has decided to refer its first case where a conviction was based on evidence from Capture, the predecessor to the Post Office’s Horizon accounting software, to the Court of Appeal.  

Patricia Owen pleaded not guilty to five counts of theft but was convicted on 12 June 1998 at Canterbury Crown Court. She received a sentence of six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.  

Mrs Owen died in April 2003 and an application to the CCRC was made on her behalf by her family in January last year. 

Mrs Owen was a Sub-Post Office Manager at Broad Oak Post Office near Canterbury. Accounts at this branch were produced using Capture, a software programme introduced in June 1992 and designed and supplied by Post Office Counters Ltd (POCL) to replace the manual cash accounts in smaller Post Offices.  

A standard check of Mrs Owen’s accounts in November 1995 showed an overclaim relating to pension and allowance payments. 

A special audit in September 1996 led to the seizure of Mrs Owen’s computer equipment. The Post Office alleged that Mrs Owen had manipulated the accounts produced by the Capture software system to inflate payment claims. Mrs Owen adamantly denied any wrongdoing. 

Mrs Owen was prosecuted and convicted. An application for leave to appeal was rejected by the Single Judge. A renewed application to the Full Court was also dismissed. 

Following a thorough review of the case, the CCRC has made the decision to refer Mrs Owen’s conviction to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that her prosecution was an abuse of process. 

The CCRC has sent more than 70 cases associated with the Post Office Horizon scandal to the appeal courts. The scandal involved hundreds of UK sub-postmasters being wrongly accused and convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting due to faults in the Horizon IT system. 

It will be for the Court of Appeal to decide whether Mrs Owen’s conviction is unsafe and should be quashed.   

[ENDS] 

Notes to Editors: 

  1. The CCRC is an independent body set up under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. It is responsible for independently reviewing suspected and alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is based in Birmingham and is funded by the Ministry of Justice.     
  1. There are currently ten Commissioners who bring to the CCRC considerable experience from a wide variety of backgrounds. Commissioners are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Prime Minister in accordance with the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.  
  1. The CCRC usually receives around 1,500 applications for reviews (convictions and/or sentences) each year. Since starting work in 1997, the CCRC has referred around 3% of applications to the appeal courts.     
  1. The CCRC considers whether, as a result of new evidence or argument, there is a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld were a reference to be made. New evidence or argument is argument or evidence which has not been raised during the trial or on appeal.  Applicants should usually have appealed first. A case can be referred in the absence of new evidence or argument or an earlier appeal only if there are “exceptional circumstances”.       
  1. If a case is referred, it is then for the appeal court to decide whether the conviction is unsafe.     
  1. More details about the role and work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission can be found at www.ccrc.gov.uk. The CCRC can be found on X, Facebook, Instagram (@the_ccrc) and Linkedin.