Hundreds of postmasters may have been wrongly convicted for accounting issues related to the use of a second faulty IT system, i can reveal.
An i investigation reveals for the first time the scale of a potential second miscarriage of justice linked to Post Office software that pre-dates the now notorious Horizon programme.
An independent investigation into the software, which was launched earlier this year by the previous government, is due to publish its report next week.
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Previously there were thought to be at least 40 sub-postmasters and families claiming they suffered at the hands of the Post Office while using Capture.
Data obtained by i under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws now reveals that after the introduction of Capture the number of private prosecutions brought by the Post Office soared from two in 1992 to 93 in 1998.
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The following year, when Horizon was introduced, 114 prosecutions were brought, resulting in 107 convictions. Every one of these convictions has now been quashed – but the Capture convictions still stand.
The FOI data means that, for the first time, the scale of prosecutions which coincided with the introduction of Capture can be laid bare.
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Those prosecuted by the Post Office under Capture, who were pursued on similar accounting charges to that of Horizon victims, argue they too should have their convictions overturned.
The data clearly shows that before the rollout of Capture began in 1992, annual prosecutions were negligible – in 1992 it pursued two cases of “suppression” and “pension and allowance encashment fraud” but failed to secure convictions in either case.
But in 1996, that number jumped to 31, followed by 60 in 1997 and 93 in 1998. The offences pursued include “audit shortage”, “cash loss” and “false accounting”.
Prosecutions continued at a similar level following the introduction of Horizon. More than 1,000 convictions have been secured in total since 1990.
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Since 2016, after the Post Office stopped pursuing prosecutions using Horizon data following a long-running campaign by sub-postmasters, the pattern has returned to that of the early 1990s – with just a single prosecution.
Steve Marston, 68, is an alleged Capture victim who believes he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting charges in 1998 after Post Office investigators said £79,000 was missing from his branch in Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester.
Mr Marston insists he never stole “a penny” and that he began suffering accounting problems after the Post Office introduced Capture.
Since then, dozens of other sub-postmasters have come forward to say they believe the software was faulty and they were wrongly made to hand over money, sacked, and in some cases criminally prosecuted.
The Capture software was rolled out to Post Office branches starting in 1992 (Photo: Supplied)
He believes the figures “paint a clear picture”.
“It’s horrifying,” he said. “The figures are staggering. And what makes it worse, to a certain extent, is that nobody at the Post Office seems to have acknowledged it.
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“Why did nobody think ‘why is the number of prosecutions suddenly rocketing?’ Surely somebody had the gumption to sit down and look at the figures and question them?”
Kevan Jones, the former Labour MP who now sits in the House of Lords, has supported Post Office victims for years and believes the scandal goes much deeper than Horizon.
“These figures starkly demonstrate that there is another scandal here,” he told i. “The Post Office need to explain why suddenly they went from zero prosecutions in the early 1990s to 93 in 1998.
“Why did nobody ask the question ‘why have all these sub-postmasters become crooked?’”
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Documents previously obtained by i revealed that Capture was developed in-house by the Post Office IT team in Farnborough, Hampshire, and first rolled out to branches in 1992.
Newsletters and bulletins sent out to sub-postmasters showed that the Post Office was aware the software was prone to bugs and glitches and was capable of corrupting accounting data.
But at this time, Post Office investigations into its own sub-postmasters were ramping up.
A separate Freedom of Information request shared with i shows there were “fewer than 5” investigations in 1990, increasing to 198 in 1996, 282 in 1997 and 378 in 1998.
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The Post Office’s change in approach towards accounting problems was spelled out in a bulletin sent out to staff in 1996.
A document from the Post Office in-house magazine Focus describing Capture errors in 1995 (Photo: Supplied)
In the newsletter obtained by i from March 1996, the Capture IT team advised sub-postmasters that they should also keep “manual” cash books as well as using the computer software.
“The reason for maintaining manual records follows advice from the Post Office Solicitors Office that current automated systems are unable to provide a clear audit trail for transactions or for cash and stock holdings entered at any specific time,” the team said.
“Similarly, the system could not provide an audit trail if any amendments are made to figures without the knowledge of the sub-postmaster.”
The convictions of sub-postmasters under the Horizon scandal have now been overturned after the Government introduced emergency legislation earlier this year.
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The Post Office has said it is “concerned” by allegations of wrongful prosecutions involving Capture and is looking into the claims as a matter of urgency.
The Government commissioned US firm Kroll to carry out an independent investigation and a report was provided to the Department for Business and Trade earlier this month.
Carl Cresswell, director at DBT, told sub-postmasters Kroll had been asked “to assess whether the design, implementation, and use of the Capture software package by postmasters could have resulted in those postmasters suffering detriment and/or there were issues with the way Post Office investigated any issues associated with Capture. “
i understands it is to be shared with sub-postmasters and their legal teams on Monday.
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If it vindicates claims that Capture was faulty the Government is potentially facing hundreds of new claims for compensation and criminal convictions which need to be overturned.
Former sub-postmasters celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London following a court ruling clearing sub-postmasters of convictions for theft and false accounting in 2021 (Photo: Tolga Akmen/Getty)
The previous Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake suggested alleged Capture victims could apply to the existing Horizon compensation schemes, which have a budget of more than £1billion.
However, the process of overturning criminal convictions could be more complicated.
The Government agreed to use emergency legislation to overturn Horizon convictions because a number of victims had already been exonerated by the Court of Appeal and it would have taken a further 15 years to clear the remaining cases.
No conviction involving Capture evidence has yet been examined by the courts.
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It is understood Labour’s new Post Office minister Gareth Thomas has been advised of the findings of the Capture report and will set out next steps in due course.
The Post Office declined to offer further comment on the latest claims about Capture. A spokesperson said previously: “We take very seriously any concerns raised about cases from before the Horizon system was first rolled out in 1999.
“We are particularly concerned about allegations of prosecutions, and we are looking into this along with all available facts about Capture, including whether shortfalls could have been caused by faults in this software, and the potential impacts if so.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We have received Kroll’s independent report into the Capture system and will be publishing its findings shortly.”
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Timeline of Post Office scandal and Capture IT allegations
1992 – Capture IT was first rolled out in branches, with the Post Office promising it would “simplify the task of keeping accounts”.
1995 – Staff bulletins are sent out to sub-postmasters, revealing bosses admitting Capture IT was experiencing a number of faults. One document from Focus – an in-house magazine produced by the Post Office – lists “a few hiccups” with the software processing pensions, currency and automated transactions.
1996 – A spike in private prosecutions by the Post Office begins, with 31 in total.
1997 – The number of prosecutions rises to 60.
1998 – A year before the Horizon IT system is introduced – 93 people were prosecuted. Former sub-postmaster Steve Marston, 67, is prosecuted by the Post Office for theft and false accounting offences.
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1999 – Liz Roberts is convicted of theft offences, which her family believes were wrongly based on data from the Capture system. She is sentenced to 13 months in prison. That same year, the Horizon IT system is rolled out in Post Office branches across the UK.
2000 – Alan Bates reports issues with the new Horizon IT system, which replaced the old Capture IT system.
2004 – Lee Castleton is found to have a £25,000 shortfall at his branch. He is made bankrupt after he lost his legal battle with the Post Office.
2010 – Pregnant sub-postmaster Seema Misra is jailed after being accused of stealing £74,000.
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2015 – Post Office boss Paula Vennells tells the business select committee there is no evidence of miscarriages of justice.
2017 – Legal action is launched against the Post Office by a group of 555 sub-postmasters.
2019 – A High Court judge rules that Horizon contained a number of “bugs, errors and defects” and there was a “material risk” that shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts were caused by the system. The Post Office agreed to pay out £58 million to the 555 subpostmasters. Post Office boss Paula Vennells is appointed a CBE.
2021 – A statutory inquiry looking into the failings of the Horizon system and the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters begins. The Court of appeal quashes 39 wrongful crown court convictions.
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2023 – The Government announces that every wrongly convicted sub-postmaster will be offered £600,000 in compensation.
2024 – ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office airs for the first time. The UK Parliament passes a law overturning the convictions of subpostmasters in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland passed a similar law that same month. Criminal investigations are launched into the Horizon IT Scandal. King Charles III revokes Vennells’s CBE. i reveals the potential second IT scandal linked to Capture.
Online dating giants and start-ups are betting on a different kind of human connection in the search for revenue growth: friendship.
Bumble, Muzz and Match Group are pushing their friend-finding and community-building products as an alternative model for digital matchmaking, aimed at attracting younger users that have been hit by so-called dating app fatigue.
Bumble, which owns the eponymous female-focused dating app as well as Badoo and Fruitz, said it was bullish about the “untapped potential” of “the friendship space”.
“The opportunity there is quite limitless for us,” said chief executive Lidiane Jones at an investor event this month.
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In May, the group acquired community-building product Geneva, which connects people based on shared interests, building on the launch of its friend-finding app BFF last year.
The push into friendship apps comes as some of the biggest online dating players have struggled with a post-pandemic slowdown in growth. Bumble shed a quarter of its market value after slashing its revenue outlook in August.
Jones said Bumble would focus this autumn on “scaling the growth of Geneva and BFF” in order to “over time diversify our business monetisation model”.
Match’s newest app Yuzu, launched in February, is also its first product to explicitly offer a social-only mode as well as a dating function.
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The app, which is designed exclusively for the Asian community, allows users to toggle between “social”, “dating”, or “social and dating” modes — a feature the $9.6bn company has suggested it may expand to its wider portfolio of more than 40 dating brands.
“This is a testing ground for us,” Match’s chief financial officer Gary Swidler said at an investor conference this month. “You can draw the line, I think, from things we’re testing in emerging brands, including Yuzu, and what we might be thinking down the road at Tinder.”
Smaller rivals have also moved into the friendship market this year. The decade-old Muslim ‘marriage app’ Muzz, which has 1.5mn monthly active users according to Sensor Tower, began rolling out Muzz Social, a friend-finding and social networking feature, in February.
New users of Muzz Social are automatically added to groups according to their location, and can also join networks based on hobbies or interests. “Automatically you’ve got a bunch of communities you could reach out to,” said founder and chief executive Shahzad Younas.
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Gay dating app Grindr, whose user numbers have continued to climb amid slowdowns at both Bumble and Tinder, has also explored adding social features, both for friendship and professional networking, in a bid to broaden its user base.
Start-ups are also seeking to tap into the so-called “loneliness economy” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
French start-up Timeleft, which algorithmically matches groups of six people to go for a meal together, expanded into the US and UK this year and now operates in over 200 cities.
Events and social connections company Pie secured $11.5mn in funding in September for an app designed to help users meet locals in real life as part of what founder Andy Dunn called “a mission to defeat social isolation”.
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But analysts are sceptical that a pivot to friendship will significantly boost revenue growth for existing online dating companies.
Tinder, Hinge, Grindr and Bumble all rely on “freemium” subscription models for the bulk of their revenues, but analysts warn that platforms may struggle to find users willing to pay for friendship — especially when mainstream social networks, like Facebook, are free.
“It’s simple. People are more willing to pay for romance than for friends,” said Ygal Arounian, an analyst at Citi.
Both Bumble and Muzz said they were considering paid partnerships and advertising to monetise their friendship products, in addition to subscriptions.
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But building a successful advertising business could require a major push to recruit new users and promote daily engagement with the products. Bumble’s BFF has just 735,000 monthly active users, according to Sensor Tower, while its flagship dating product has more than 20mn.
Connecting payment with real-life meetups is another option. Users of Timeleft, for example, pay a fee or take out a membership, to reserve a space at one of the company’s weekly dinners. Timeleft keeps the entire fee, while users pay for their own meals at partner restaurants.
But even if they do not make money themselves, Bumble and Muzz are betting that friendship products will help keep users engaged with their brands even when they are not actively seeking a partner, as well as offering a route to their more profitable dating businesses.
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Timeleft chief executive Maxime Barbier said friendship products could be the future of online matchmaking. “Dating as it is — swiping, texting and one-on-one first dates — is dying. People are so tired of it and they see us as an alternative.”
Ale – usually associated with bushy-bearded blokes – is enjoying a trendy renaissance, with one in three women also enjoying a regular sup.
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Don’t be afraid of dark and sinister-looking real ale, you can give it a go with lighter – and cheaper – versions from supermarketsCredit: Getty
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Helena Nicklin, offers her selection of top newbie at-home alesCredit: Oliver Dixon
If you’re ale-curious but wary of the dark and sinister-looking “real” stuff, or simply don’t know where to start with this acquired taste tipple, you can give it a go with lighter – and cheaper – versions from the supermarkets before hitting the pub for the real deal.
Here, Helena Nicklin, offers her selection of top newbie at-home ales.
Looks fun with its bright colours so would make a great party aleCredit: Lidl
AN exclusive Lidl brew, a can of Harbour Session, which is decked out in Creme Egg colours, feels like an IPA “lite” so it’s perhaps not a bad one to begin with if you’re new to this category.
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IPA purists might well say it’s a bit too thin rather than hoppy – but they can continue propping up the bar with their pint of cask while you enjoy this at home as it’s cheap and very easy to glug.
Looks fun with its bright colours so would make a great party ale. Worth a try even if it is not what you end up sipping in the pub.
2/5
£2, 500ml, 4.6% ABV
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It’s hip and hoppy with lots going on so worth giving it a go
OAKHAM was the first UK brewery to produce a beer with 100% citra hops.
These are a fairly new type used for their fruity, citrus and floral aromatics and flavours, and known for adding vibrancy to ales.
If you can get past the quirky label then glugging this very light gold will offer you bright tropical fruit and candied lemon peel flavours.
It’s hip and hoppy with lots going on so worth giving it a go.
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My top tip for anyone switching tipples from a glass of white vino is that if you’re into sauvignon blanc, you’ll love this.
3/5
£2,25, 500ml, 5% ABV
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This organic tipple is made with real honey, malt and hops
BLONDE ale is even lighter than amber and the clue is in the name as it generally has a gorgeous, light gold hue.
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Such styles tend to be crisp and pretty easy-drinking with light, biscuity notes.
If you’ve never had ale before, something like this would be a great place to start.
This organic tipple is made with real honey, malt and hops.
It has a touch of baked apple fruitiness and a subtle nectar note without being sweet or too intense.
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Delicious cracked open on its own any time, and lovely paired with salty crisps.
WHILE you currently can’t get real dark and savoury cask ale to glug at home – unless you have your own pub, that is – an amber ale like this, with its less hoppy, more caramel-toffee notes, is a great place to start to get a feel for the darker stuff.
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Whether you are a newbie to this type of drink or just want to try some different options in the comfort of your own home then this classic Yorkshire tipple is rich, balanced and smooth, with a Malteser-like, malty sweetness.
Apparently inspired by smugglers and our haunted coastlines, it’s a great thirst-slayer
IF it’s the vibrant, citrusy notes you love in a pale ale then spooky sipper Ghost Ship, with its powerful twist of lemon and lime, should be right up your street.
Made with a mix of British and American barley and rye, it’s a little hoppy and has elderflower hints along with biscuity notes.
Apparently inspired by smugglers and our haunted coastlines, it’s a great thirst-slayer – and with its spectral label it would definitely be a fabulous choice if you’re getting the beers in for Halloween.
4/5
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BrewDog Punk IPA, Sainsbury’s £5.25 (Nectar),
330ml x 4, 5.4% ABV
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An easy-to-drink classic that would be a great intro to IPAsCredit: Brewdog
IF you’ve tried pale ale before and enjoyed its light, bright hoppiness but want a bit more of that flavour, then India pale ale is the way to go.
Brewdog’s version is a go-to for many, and for a good reason – it gets the balance just right between citrus and hops, and has a moreish earthy note on the finish.
An easy-to-drink classic that would be a great intro to IPAs.
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It is well-priced – more so at the moment as it is on offer – so if it isn’t for you then you won’t break the bank. Drink it chilled with snacks.
3/5
Saltaire Blonde Ale, Morrisons
£2.25, 500ml, 4% ABV
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A top at-home brew to try if you are just starting out on your ale journey
SOME ingredients really do have the best names and Saltaire Ale says it is made with Bohemian saaz hops, which feels fitting given its slightly quirky profile.
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Light, refreshing and soft, there’s a gentle, spicy maltiness to this well-priced blonde, which hails from Yorkshire.
A lower ABV makes it an easy-drinking choice – there’s lots of flavour here without being heavy.
It’s definitely a top at-home brew to try if you are just starting out on your ale journey.
This is a great one for spreading a little sunshine into a soggy autumn day
NOT yet sure about the bitter hops of pale ales and IPAs?
Then a golden ale might be the best go-to for you.
This affordable offering gives you a lot of bang for your buck – and its slightly lower ABV than some other options might be appealing for certain sippers, too.
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More about ripe, tropical fruit flavours and delicate florals, golden ales like this one have a real summer party vibe.
This is a great one for spreading a little sunshine into a soggy autumn day. Or sipping outside in the summer.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The UK must mobilise £1.6tn of funding by 2040 to meet the nation’s public infrastructure needs, according to new research that underscores the vast investment demands confronting Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
The research from consultancy EY comes as chancellor Rachel Reeves contemplates loosening her fiscal rules to allow the Labour government to increase borrowing to pay for higher levels of public investment.
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On Friday, Lord Gus O’Donnell, formerly the UK’s most senior civil servant, added to mounting calls that the chancellor should ditch her “absurd” debt rule as part of fiscal reforms that bolster capital spending.
The prospect of higher borrowing has put gilt investors on edge this week as they await clearer signals from Labour about its plans to plough more public money into the nation’s ailing infrastructure.
Reeves on Monday told the Labour party’s annual conference she would end the “low investment that feeds decline” as she hinted that a rethink of the UK’s fiscal framework was under way.
Starmer, the prime minister, later declared in a visit to New York for the UN General Assembly this week that he had “always thought that we should borrow to invest”. He added that government would be a “catalyst” for private spending.
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The EY report, led by former Treasury adviser Mats Persson, estimated a £1.6tn in required spending between now and 2040 in areas including energy, transport, and defence.
Far greater private sector involvement would be required alongside public spending if the needs were to be met, said Persson, now an EY partner.
“There is an absolute need as well as significant potential for more private investment into UK infrastructure assets and capital programmes that have traditionally been funded by taxpayers,” said Persson.
The consultancy drew its estimates from the government’s National Infrastructure and Construction pipeline of planned and projected infrastructure programmes, and departmental capital projects that have not been allocated money.
Existing fiscal scenarios suggested that only £900bn of the programmes would be covered by public spending, EY said, leaving a £700bn shortfall.
Given the UK’s poor record of delivering infrastructure projects on budget, the true bill could be a further £1tn higher, EY warned.
The UK has sat at the bottom of a G7 league table of total investment for most of the past three decades, damaging the quality of infrastructure including roads and hospitals.
Reeves also faces intense pressure to find extra funding for day-to-day expenditure on public services ranging from education to the courts, setting up painful decisions in the October 30 budget.
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Treasury officials are working on an overhaul to the UK’s fiscal rules as they seek to balance demands for spending on public services and infrastructure with warnings from the UK’s fiscal watchdog that Britain’s debt levels are on an “unsustainable” upward path.
In a column for the Financial Times, former cabinet secretary O’Donnell argued that the Treasury should incorporate measures of public debt that better reflected assets as well as liabilities, a move that would enable greater capital spending.
He also criticised the UK’s fiscal rule — adopted by Reeves from the previous Conservative government — that requires public debt to be falling year on year in five years’ time.
“We should ditch the last government’s absurd debt rule, which requires debt to be falling between years four and five, but says nothing about other years,” he said.
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He argued that the government should take steps to reassure investors that the UK’s public finances were on a sustainable path to “allow space for higher, worthwhile investments while retaining market credibility”.
O’Donnell said the government should seek to balance day-to-day spending against taxes in three years, rather than five, and require the independent Office for Budget Responsibility to provide an independent assessment of debt sustainability.
Reeves is said by colleagues to be determined to stick to Labour’s manifesto commitment to a fiscal rule under which debt must fall as a share of GDP in the fifth year of the forecast. Her focus is instead on how that debt is measured, they said.
A Treasury spokesperson said Reeves’s October 30 Budget — the first from a Labour government since 2010 — would be built on “the rock of economic stability, including robust fiscal rules that were set out in the manifesto.”
Cyprus has some of the best beaches in EuropeCredit: Getty Images
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Cyprus has two UK military basesCredit: Reuters
Is it safe to travel to Cyprus right now?
The UK Foreign Office has not issued any warnings against traveling to Cyprus.
However, it has warned that protests can occur quickly and suddenly on the island.
It also does not acknowledge the “the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” and has noted that it may be difficult for the UK to offer consular support in the region.
What is currently happening in Cyprus?
Tensions between Lebanon and Israel were intensified when Hezbollah voiced anger at Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks.
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Read more on Israel-Hezbollah
The situation worsened on September 17 and 18, 2024, after thousands of pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies belonging to members of Hezbollah simultaneously exploded.
Cyprus is home to two UK sovereign base areas named Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
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Hezbollah walkie-talkies explode in people’s hands across Lebanon one day after Israel blows up pagers injuring 1000s
The island is 293 miles from Israel and 180 miles from Lebanon.
This makes the island very significant for the UK’s and its allies’ operations in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East.
On June 19, 2024, the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said that Cyprus could come under attack if it allowed its airbases to be used against Hezbollah.
However, Cyprus’s president Nikos Christodoulides has denied Cyprus’ involvement in any conflict and the UK Foreign Office maintains that travelling to Cyprus is safe.
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Cyprus’ president Nikos Christodoulides said that Cyprus is not involved in the conflictCredit: UPI: Alarmy Live News
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Cyprus is one of the UK’s favourite summer destinationsCredit: Getty
Should I cancel my holiday to Cyprus?
With no travel warnings currently in place, it is not advised to cancel your stay on the island.
Anyone with a trip booked is unlikely to get a refund for their trip unless the UK government advises against travel.
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If you are nervous about your vacation, then you should contact your tour operator instead, as you may be able to move your dates instead.
What do you need to travel to Cyprus?
You can travel to Cyprus without a visa for 90 days.
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