What the Post Office scandal shows us about the criminal justice system

Like everyone else, I have been fascinated to watch public interest in the scandal around the miscarriages of justice for Post Office workers finally resulting in a government announcement about bringing in legislation to overturn convictions. In addition to all the ways the justice system failed the victims, the personal stories have really underlined the stigma of being caught up in the justice system (even before any convictions were wrongly secured) and the ongoing negative impacts, long after a sentence is complete.  

While it’s great that it looks like the victims of those miscarriages of justice might finally get some resolution, it is depressing it has taken so long. Interestingly, this scandal is one that has been reported on quite widely over the last few years – including a Panorama documentary and a well-publicised court case which exposed the faulty Horizon system and therefore seemingly got to the truth of the issue. And yet it has taken a great TV drama to provide enough pressure for the government to step in.  

Perhaps this just shows the different reach of a drama in comparison to a documentary, but I also think that many people will have watched Panorama or read about the court case and just presumed that once the truth was known, the whole situation would be resolved. People’s convictions would be quashed and they would all be compensated. But that didn’t happen – and this TV drama has exposed not just the details of the case but the shocking fact that people are still suffering the long-term impacts of their convictions. This is just one example in a long list that shows there is often a huge gap between the truth being discovered and people in power being held accountable or victims being offered some sort of restitution. It reminds all of us that sustained pressure is needed to force change – identifying the truth of an issue is not enough. The victims of this Post Office scandal have been waiting a long time for justice, but at least the government’s statement yesterday shows that where there is strong public pressure, swift action can be taken.  

I will leave it to others to discuss whether yesterday’s announcement goes far enough or what the implications might be for going around judicial mechanisms by wholescale quashing of convictions by legislation. I think there are other important lessons that come out of this case for the criminal justice system.  

Firstly, this case shows that innocent people will plead guilty in their hundreds. Partly influenced by what was presented as unsurmountable evidence, but from the stories being told over the last few days, it sounds like the threat of more severe punishment if they didn’t plead guilty was key. In particular, being told that a guilty plea might let them avoid prison must have played a big part in decisions to admit to something they know they didn’t do. That this could happen on such a large scale is a frightening lesson for us all. 

Secondly, this scandal showed that even after the court case found the Horizon system to be at fault, overturning the convictions has not been easy. Not everyone who applied was successful. And it seems a significant number of people have just not wanted to go through the process to challenge the conviction. From the anecdotal stories being told, it sounds as if some people just wanted to move on and forget it ever happened, and others understandably had serious misgivings around choosing to interact with a justice system that failed them so badly the first time. This reminds us that people might have very good reasons for not pushing to get a wrongful conviction expunged. 

This last point is particularly interesting in respect of the criminal records system. The idea that people just want to move on after completing their sentence – even if they know their conviction was unjust – makes perfect sense. But at Unlock, we know the impact of a criminal record can be felt years after a sentence is completed; for some it can be lifelong. For those that receive a prison sentence, for example, even if it stops being shared on a Basic DBS check, that conviction can never be filtered so will have to be disclosed when applying for all sorts of professional or regulated jobs. And we know that even where employers understand the benefits of recruiting people with criminal records, some are still rejecting people on the basis of offence type – with ‘dishonesty’ being one of the most common groups.  

Finally, this scandal has highlighted other barriers faced by people with criminal records, such as the ‘Google effect’. Victims have reported that even once the truth came out, the damage done to their lives and reputations by media coverage of their alleged offences was irreversible. On our helpline we hear every day from people who have long since completed their sentence or whose convictions are spent, but all it takes is an employer or acquaintance to Google their name and they can lose everything all over again.  

There are lessons we can learn from this scandal about where the justice system is failing. It also shows that it is more important than ever to make sure there is a proportionate and fair criminal records system, which doesn’t exacerbate those other parts of the system that just aren’t working.