Sub-postmistress 'over the moon' to have almost £19,000 fraud conviction quashed

Kathleen Crane was initially ordered to repay more than £18,000 and given a 12-month community order, with her lawyer saying she had 'suffered in silence'

A former sub-postmistress wrongly accused of embezzlement and stealing almost £19,000 during the post office Horizon IT scandal has said she is “over the moon” to have had her conviction overturned.

Kathleen Crane, 68, had her fraud conviction quashed at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday. She is the first in England to have her conviction rubbished since ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office aired.

With the support of her daughters Katy and Lucy Crane, Kathleen made her plea against the Post Office's decision that has haunted her for more than 13 years.

Speaking to ITV News outside court following the decision, Kathleen said her “horrible” experience was “over now” and urged others affected by the scandal to come forward, saying: “If you’re innocent, you should have your conviction quashed.”

"I don't know what I feel. I'm over the moon," she added.

Speaking to ITV News outside court following the decision, former sub-postmistress Kathleen Crane said she had 'waited a long time for this'

The judge said it had taken “considerable courage” for Kathleen, from Eastbourne, east Sussex, to head down to court today - and she almost didn’t.

Her two daughters wept and smiled and hugged their mother as the judge cleared her name.

But notably missing for the family was her husband Robert Crane, who died in 2016 and so never got the chance to see her conviction quashed. As a nod to her late husband, Kathleen wore Robert's scarf to court today.

Like in many of the Horizon scandal cases - which saw more than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses handed criminal convictions - Kathleen began noticing discrepancies in the till system.

In 2010, Kathleen was accused of taking £18,721.52 from the Post Office but maintained her innocence.

Kathleen asked for these "shortfalls" to be investigated but the Post Office failed to do so and instead she was charged with fraud.

Kathleen Crane and her daughter Katy told ITV News they were 'gob-smacked' by the public's reaction to the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office

Following advice from her lawyer at the time, Kathleen felt under pressure to accept that the Horizon system was infallible and changed her initial "not guilty" plea to "guilty", leading to her fraud conviction.

Forced to pay the money back, Kathleen and her husband Robert had no choice but to use Robert's inheritance he received from his parents to shift the bills.

Speaking to ITV News ahead of the conviction being overturned, daughter Katy said: "Mum and dad had to pay that money out of their own pocket.

"Dad had unfortunately lost his parents before this had all happened so did have some inheritance to pay it.

"It was a large amount of money. But it wasn't just the paying it back, it was the accusations that mum had stolen it."

'My mum has never done anything wrong in her life. Mum had fingerprints and saliva taken as if she was a criminal. And she wasn't,' Katy Crane told ITV News before her mum's hearing

In 2000, Kathleen’s late husband Robert Crane became the sub-postmaster of Old Town Post Office, Eastbourne.

But six months later, Robert had a heart attack, fell ill and could no longer work so Kathleen began overseeing the branch.

Having worked at M&S for over 25 years handling cash on a daily basis, Kathleen couldn’t understand why her cashing up was wrong when working as a sub-postmistress.

Convicted while caring for her husband and her two daughters, Kathleen was forced to undertake 200 hours of "humiliating" community service within her tight knit community, the court was told.

Daughter Katy said following the decision: "I actually don’t know how they (the Post Office) sleep at night.

“I absolutely think someone should serve some jail time for this.

"We had an apology but I think it doesn't go far enough. I think somebody needs to be held to account.”

Speaking to ITV News outside court after the decision, Katy Crane said an apology 'doesn't go far enough'

Katy told ITV News ahead of the hearing how she remembers men being sent to their family home in search of the money that her mother had allegedly stolen.

She said: "There was never a doubt in my mind that anything had been stolen. It was a never a question of whether they had done it. It was more how the Post Office treated them, it was very harsh and very cruel.

"They scrutinised bank accounts and bank statements. They came round to the house looking for money, I remember a man looking through my room for money.

"Mum had fingerprints and saliva taken as if she was a criminal. And she wasn't."

In 2021, the Post Office carried out a review and sent Kathleen a letter suggesting her conviction may be unsafe and confirmed they would not oppose her appeal.

Today, that conviction was finally overturned.

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