Another Post Office IT Failure Under Scrutiny
A former sub-postmaster's conviction, connected to a third potentially faulty Post Office accounting system, has been formally referred to the Court of Appeal, marking a significant expansion of the long-running IT scandal.
The Case of Gareth Snow
Gareth Snow, who ran the Corwen Post Office branch in Denbighshire, north Wales, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in 2001 after pleading guilty to three counts of false accounting.
His case centred on the Post Office's Automatic Payment Service (APS) and Automatic Payment Terminal (APT), an electronic system used for processing transactions like rent and utility bills through telephone lines.
Following an audit of his branch in November 2000, Post Office investigators interviewed Mr Snow. Prosecutors alleged he had falsified documents to cover accounting shortfalls exceeding £57,000.
New Evidence and CCRC Intervention
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has now concluded there is a real possibility the Court of Appeal will find Mr Snow's conviction unsafe and overturn it.
CCRC Chair Dame Vera Baird KC stated: "There is evidence that the APS/APT could cause accounting errors. In Mr Snow's case, he would say that there was no evidence of any actual loss."
She highlighted that while Mr Snow didn't raise issues about the software at the time, unexplained accounting shortfalls were occurring, and there appears to be no indication Post Office Ltd investigated other possible causes.
Mr Snow had abandoned an appeal in 2021 but applied to the CCRC in 2023, leading to this latest development.
Expanding the Post Office Scandal
This referral represents the latest chapter in the Post Office IT scandal, coming just weeks after the first convictions linked to the Capture accounting software - used before the notorious Horizon system - were also referred to appeal judges.
The CCRC noted real similarities between Mr Snow's case and the Horizon judgments. While Horizon caused approximately 1,000 wrongful convictions, the commission has received more than 30 applications relating to pre-Horizon software including Capture.
The Court of Appeal will now determine whether to quash Mr Snow's conviction, potentially opening the door for further challenges against the Post Office's early accounting systems.
