Post Office Horizon scandal: Yorkshire MP Kevin Hollinrake says those responsible 'should go to jail'

More than 700 branch managers were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their branches.

Hundreds of subpostmasters and subpostmistresses are still awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts. A statutory inquiry into the saga has been launched and public outrage followed the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also announced blanket legislation to exonerate those wrongly prosecuted after the TV series returned the scandal to the spotlight.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake, who is MP for Thirsk and Malton, said on BBC Breakfast: “The inquiry is unearthing the evidence, what you see now is a result of the inquiry, the statutory inquiry. The Metropolitan Police are undertaking an investigation – the Government doesn’t do that, the police do that.

“When evidence has been established, people should be prosecuted – that’s my view. And I think you, and other people I’ve spoken to, and I certainly feel, people within the Post Office, possibly further afield, should go to jail.

“We have to go through a process, we believe in the rule of law – lots of people in this room, and other people, have not had the benefit of the rule of law. It has failed, failed these people, inexcusably. We do believe in process, that’s the country we are very proud to live in.

“But if the threshold is met, the evidence is there, where criminal prosecutions can be undertaken – and that those people are found guilty – I have no reservation in saying people should go to jail.”

Subpostmaster Lee Castleton, from Scarborough, who was played by Will Mellor in the ITV drama, was bankrupted after a two-year legal fight when he was pursued for £321,000 costs by the Post Office.

He asked Kevin Mr Hollinrake on the show “Over the whole period, we’re currently looking at paying £2 in legal fees for every £1 in compensation – it’s very adversarial, and people are talking about sitting in these meetings having to re-go through this criminal investigation. Why is that right for the taxpayer?”

Mr Hollinrake said: “You’re right Lee, lawyers are a fact of life, and they have an important role to play, of course, but we’re keen to try reduce the legal argument over these processes. We need to simplify the process, take the common sense view.

“I’ve said to our officials, and to legal representatives, “if it looks right, it is right, just settle it” – that’s what we need to do.”