Jailed Shrewsbury postmistress gets go-ahead for legal action against Post Office
A former sub-postmistress who says a computer glitch led to her being wrongly jailed over financial irregularities has been given the go-ahead to take legal action against the Post Office.
Rubbina Shaheen, who kept the Greenfields Post Office in Shrewsbury, was sentenced to 12 months in jail in December 2010 after being accused of stealing £43,000 from the business.
She is one of 198 current and former sub-postmasters who are pursuing a collective legal action against the Post Office over what they claim was a defective IT system that led to accusations of theft, fraud and false accounting.
This week the High Court in London granted them a group litigation order over alleged glitches with the Horizon computer system, which records day-to-day financial transactions at smaller post office branches.
Some, such as Mrs Shaheen were prosecuted and jailed over irregularities in the accounts, while others lost their homes or were made bankrupt after wrongly being forced to pay back shortfalls, claim their lawyers.
Law firm Freeths, which is representing the 198 sub-postmasters, said the final bill for compensation could reach "tens of millions" of pounds.
The company said any other postmasters who thought they might have been affected could join the action before a cut-off date of July 26.
James Hartley, who is leading the case for Freeths, said: "This is a very good day for the sub-postmasters who have suffered real hardship. T
"The process has begun to get justice for them and to hold the Post Office accountable for their actions."
Alan Bates of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance said there was "overwhelming evidence" of the Post Office's system failure.
The Post Office has always maintained there was no evidence of system-wide problems with the software.
It said it welcomed the progress made, but would not comment on live litigation.
Forensic accountants Second Sight were called in by the Post Office to investigate the claims.
But Second Sight later accused the Post Office of misrepresenting its findings.
The Second Sight report said that while there was no evidence of "systemic flaws" in the Horizon system, it was "not always fit for purpose."
