A postmaster who was wrongly convicted under the Horizon scandal says the injustice left his life “ruined” and his family “broken”, as he encouraged other Scots affected by the issue to seek redress.
Today, Rab Thomson launched Scottish Postmasters for Justice and Redress (SPJR) group at the Scottish Parliament, alongside former postmaster Calum Greenhow and ex-MP Marion Fellows.
This comes as the 65-year-old, from Alva, Clackmannanshire, said Scotland is lagging behind in access to the redress scheme, often because elderly victims of the scandal may not want to revisit trauma from years ago.
Last June, a law which exonerated Scots wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal came into force – though Mr Thomson was able to have his conviction overturned in advance of this.
The UK-wide scandal involved subpostmasters being wrongly convicted of offences such as fraud because of the faulty Horizon software. So far, 64 convictions identified have been quashed, allowing them access to a UK compensation scheme.
The SPJR group is keen to point out other postmasters may have suffered as a result of faults involving earlier Post Office software – with systems called Capture and Ecco+ mentioned – and is encouraging anyone who may be affected to come forward.
Mr Thomson was accused of theft after taking over the Post Office from his mother, who worked there for 30 years. He has now reflected on how he had spent around 20 years fighting to clear his name after being accused of theft.
He said: “I know she’s not going to be here to see what I’m doing, but hopefully she’s looking down at me and she knows what we’re trying to do.”
Despite the overturning of his conviction being a “weight off my shoulder”, the 20-year wait for justice “broke up our family”, he said.
“It’s not the money, my life’s been ruined,” he admitted. “No-one can really know it unless they’ve been through this. When I came in here today it broke my heart, because it was bringing everything back.”
He called on MSPs and the Scottish Government to publicise the scheme as much as possible, saying he would help anyone apply for redress.
Ms Fellows, the former Motherwell and Wishaw MP who chaired a parliamentary group on the issue, said it is important postmasters receive redress after being treated “abominably”.
She said: “They had their whole lives turned upside down. Families broken. Children of postmasters, as well, were getting bullied in school. People committed suicide.
“It’s been a horrendous time.”
Mr Greenhow urged the Scottish Government to take a wider view of what kind of issues should be included in the reviews of convictions.
In 22 Scottish cases, convictions have not been quashed under last year’s Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act.
He said: “The problem that we’ve got is under legislation that’s in place – to have your conviction quashed Horizon has to be the evidence.
“But if you happened to be involved in running a Post Office you could still be convicted.
“But if Horizon wasn’t the basis of the evidence you’d be outside the scope.”