The head of the police investigation into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal has informed the BBC that criminal trials related to the case are unlikely to start until 2028.
Metropolitan Police Commander Stephen Clayman stated, “The teams must be extremely thorough and pay close attention to detail, but we are making significant progress.”
The investigation has identified seven suspects and has identified 45 to 50 potential suspects. However, it will not present files to prosecutors until after the final report from the public inquiry into the scandal is released, which is expected later this year.
Former sub-postmaster Tim Brentnall expressed that victims are “eager to see some form of accountability,” but also believes that the police should take their time and conduct a thorough investigation.
The Horizon IT system, which was implemented in 1999, falsely recorded shortfalls in Post Office branches for which sub-postmasters were held responsible. As a result, over 900 people were prosecuted and some were imprisoned. Some individuals even passed away while waiting for justice.
Last year, a law was passed to overturn these convictions collectively.
The criminal investigation, known as Operation Olympos, commenced in 2020 and interviewed two suspects in 2021. Following the conclusion of the public phase of the inquiry in December of last year, the investigation was expanded, and two more individuals were interviewed under caution, where their statements can be used as evidence in court. Both individuals were in their 60s.
Cdr Clayman stated that the police began by focusing on “those on the front line – the Post Office investigators, solicitors, and those involved in the initial decision-making.” However, he also mentioned that they are now looking into higher-level management, but it will take some time to reach that point.
He is confident that there will be criminal trials, but acknowledges that the first ones may not begin until 2028.
Sir Wyn Williams, the chair of the public inquiry, will release Volume 1 of his final report on July 8th and is expected to submit Volume 2 later this year. After that, the police will have to carefully review the report, present files to the Crown Prosecution Service, and wait for a court date, according to Cdr Clayman.
He stated, “This is not uncommon. Other large investigations linked to a public inquiry have experienced the same. I fully understand the frustration of the victims who are at the heart of this.”
Tim Brentnall, a former sub-postmaster from Roch, Pembrokeshire, was prosecuted in 2010 when a £22,500 shortfall was discovered at his branch. His conviction was overturned in 2021.
He stated, “The way the Post Office prosecuted me was completely wrong. I was rushed into court and told that I was the only one in this position, which was not true.”
He added, “But if the police need time, they should take it and do a thorough job.”
David Enright, a lawyer who represented seven of the ten sub-postmasters who participated in the inquiry, stated, “The fact is that we have seen sub-postmaster after sub-postmaster pass away without ever seeing any true accountability. Sub-postmasters are asking themselves, where is the urgency in the police investigation?”
There are currently 108 officers working on Operation Olympos, based in four regional hubs. Cdr Clayman spoke at the Metropolitan Police’s hub, located at the top of a high-rise police office building in Sutton, South London.
The officers spend much of their time combing through millions of digitized documents that will be used as evidence in the trials. They began with 1.5 million documents, and that number is expected to rise to six million as more documents are discovered.
Every police force in England and Wales is involved, as well as the PSNI and Police Scotland.
Cdr Clayman previously criticized the Post Office for not handing over information quickly enough, but stated that they are now being “quite cooperative.” He also mentioned that Fujitsu, the company that manages the Horizon IT system, has been very cooperative.
A spokesperson for the Post Office stated, “The Post Office has fully and openly cooperated with the Metropolitan Police since early 2020 to provide any information they need for their investigations, and we will continue to do so.”