Rebecca Pow MP secures Government review of another Post Office IT system amid claims of more wrongful convictions following meeting with her constituent and the Post Office Minister
In a major step for her constituent Steve Marston, a former sub-postmaster, Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow was pleased to secure a meeting with Post Office Minister, Kevin Hollinrake MP to enable Mr Marston to discuss his experiences relating to the 'Capture' accounting software system. Mr Marston believes he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting errors caused by the ‘Capture’ accounting software.
Auditors found shortfalls of £79,000 at his branch in 1998 and Mr Marston has explained that he was placed in a position where he had to plead guilty to try and avoid jail and did so.
The ‘Capture’ software was a predecessor to Horizon and was developed by the Post Office before being rolled out from 1992.
At the meeting in Westminster, it was agreed that an independent IT expert would be commissioned to assess evidence alleging possible glitches in the Capture software.
Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow said:
“The distress and impact that the Post Office Capture system has had on Mr Marston and his family is unimaginable. I first became aware of Mr Marston’s case in early January and raised concerns with the Post Office Minister, Kevin Hollinrake, immediately.
I was pleased to receive prompt assurances from the Minister that his department was in active discussions about Capture, the predecessor system to Horizon.
I was especially keen for the Minister to hear from Mr Marston first hand and I pay tribute to both Steve and his wife for their bravery in outlining their experiences and the subsequent impact on their lives at the meeting in Westminster this week. After an open and frank discussion, I welcome the commitment from the Minister to appoint an independent expert to assess the evidence from Mr Marston and a number of other ex-sub-post masters to determine whether the Capture system was indeed potentially faulty.
I want to pay tribute to the Minister himself, for his dogged work in searching out the truth and also to Kevan Jones MP for all his work on this issue making this investigation cross-party and independent and I look forward to continuing to work with both individuals on behalf of Mr Marston. If there is clear evidence of a miscarriage of justice it must be properly handled through the appropriate channels.”
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake MP stated:
"We want to get to the truth. We are interested in justice and I give my assurances that we will get the right person to test the evidence. I want to thank MP Rebecca Pow for acting swiftly on behalf of her constituent Steve Marston and for bringing this to my attention.”
Steve Marston said:
“Both my wife and myself would sincerely like to thank Rebecca for her fantastic help in bringing my case to the minister’s attention. We feel that we had a very productive meeting and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their support and kind words. It is my hope that not just my case but everyone else who have had their lives destroyed by faulty software called Capture can look forward to a speedy and just resolution to this miscarriage of justice and give us the opportunity to draw a line beneath it and carry on with our heads held high for the rest of our lives.”
