Rubbina Shaheen, who kept Greenfields Post Office in Shrewsbury, is one of dozens of sub-postmasters across the country who claim to have been wrongly accused of false accounting or theft because of glitches with the Post Office’s controversial Horizon computer system. They have now been told that they have secured the funding they needed to lodge a civil claim against the Post Office.
Mrs Shaheen, who was jailed for 12 months at Shrewsbury Crown Court in December 2010, is also seeking to get her conviction overturned. She is part of a group civil action being brought by Justice For The Sub-postmasters Alliance (JFSA), which represents post office managers who claim they have been falsely accused of dishonesty because of faults with the Horizon system.
Mrs Shaheen, now 50, was initially charged with the theft of more than £43,269 following discrepancies in the branch’s finances. The Post Office agreed to drop the theft charge as part of a plea bargain which saw her plead guilty to the lesser charge of false accounting.
JFSA's chairman Alan Bates confirmed it had secured funding for the action. "We are now able to move forward in civil court with the exposure of the failings of the Post Office and its Horizon system,” he said.
Mrs Shaheen’s husband Mohamed said it was an important step, adding that funding had been the main obstacle to seeking redress in the courts. “We are very pleased, it’s very important, funding is the crucial issue. We got a letter from our solicitor saying that funding was in place and they would be in contact shortly, so we’re just waiting to hear now when the case will go ahead.,” he said.
Mrs Shaheen is one of eight post office managers who were jailed over financial discrepancies which they blame on the company’s computer system. About 100 sub-postmasters and mistresses across the country are seeking to have convictions or court rulings overturned in relation to the Horizon system.
The Post Office called in forensic accountants Second Sight to carry out an investigation into reports of a glitch with the Horizon system, which logs all transactions carried out at each branch. Second Sight managing director Ron Warmington said faults with Horizon could have led to the discrepancies which resulted in Mrs Shaheen being jailed.
Post Office communications officer Melanie Corfield said she was not aware of any claim that had been lodged against the company as yet. She restated the Post Office’s confidence in the Horizon system, “The Post Office’s computer system is used successfully by 78,000 people to process six million transactions every working day in communities throughout the UK,” she said.
