Former Postmaster Lee Williamson cleared over Fujitsu Horizon scandal convictions

A former sub-postmaster from Co Tyrone caught up in the Fujitsu Horizon IT scandal is to have all of his wrongful convictions quashed, the Court of Appeal confirmed today.Lee Williamson was fully exonerated after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) ended any opposition to the legal battle to clear his name.With fraud and theft offences already certain to be overturned by new legislation, senior judges agreed to quash four other convictions for forgery.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan declared: “It has been a long road for Mr Williamson, but it has come to a favourable outcome for him today.” The 49-year-old was among 26 postmasters from Northern Ireland to be charged after the defective Horizon computer software made it look like money had gone missing.Mr Williamson was accused of stealing and falsifying accounting records at his branch in Portstewart when an audit appeared to show an alleged shortfall of £17,000.In 2014 he received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty on advice to three counts of fraud by false representation, theft, abuse of his position, and four offences of forgery and counterfeiting.In total, more than 700 sub-postmasters across the UK were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 for similar accounting errors.It has been described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. The scandal was thrust back into the spotlight after ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office sparked a public outcry and renewed pressure on the UK Government to intervene.Five of Mr Williamson’s convictions are to be automatically overturned under the terms of the new Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act, with confirmation expected in a letter from the Department of Justice.Although the legislation does not cover the four counts of forgery, it was accepted in court today that those alleged offences were also linked to the Horizon system. The decision was reached after studying a report prepared by forensic investigators as part of the appeal.Senior counsel for the PPS announced that Mr Williamson’s appeal was no longer being opposed.Dame Siobhan then confirmed: “We are satisfied, given the prosecution’s position, that we should allow the appeal on the four convictions that are before us and quash those convictions.”Outside court, an emotional Mr Williamson declared himself fully vindicated by the outcome.“My name has now been fully cleared,” he said.Mr Williamson also expressed remorse at having pleaded guilty in the first place, describing how he had been struggling with mental health and felt that the charges were “stacked” against him.“It was on advice that I would get a suspended sentence, but it was one of the biggest regrets I ever had,” he explained.“I felt like I had let myself down by taking the easy option rather than fighting it.His solicitor, Michael Madden, declared that he was now “fully exonerated”.Mr Madden said: “Mr Williamson has been to hell and back over the years.”He insisted his client would never have been convicted if the Post Office had not withheld IT information.Referring to the ongoing public inquiry into the Horizon scandal, the lawyer added: “Criminal prosecutions should be taken against any individuals found by the Inquiry to have deliberately withheld disclosure in an attempt to save the reputation of the Post Office at the expense of the lives of its sub-postmasters.”

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