‘We are all sorry’ about miscarriages of justice in Horizon – Mulholland

More than 900 sub-postmasters in the UK were prosecuted for crimes such as theft due to incorrect information from the software.

Lord Mulholland was Lord Advocate between 2011 and 2016.

In England the Post Office prosecuted its own affairs, but in Scotland COPFS was solely responsible for taking people to court.

The last prosecution in Scotland took place in 2014.

BBC News approached Lord Mulholland – who is now a judge – on Thursday after he gave evidence at the Sheku Bayoh public inquiry in Edinburgh.

When asked if he had anything to say to the victims, he said: “Any miscarriage of justice is a bad thing, so if there is a miscarriage of justice, we’re all sorry, but that’s all I have. say.”

Between 1999 and 2015 there were up to 60 prosecutions in Scotland involving Horizon evidence.

A total of 19 people have asked to have their convictions overturned.

Some lawyers for the victims have questioned why their previously convicted clients were not informed by the Crown Office of their concerns about the computer system in 2015.

Lord Mulholland said BBC News “should therefore ask the Crown Office.”

The current Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, has previously apologized for the way those wrongly convicted have been “let down by trusted institutions and the criminal justice system”.

She said COPFS was “repeatedly” misled by the Post Office.

The Crown Office has said it is committed to ensuring that any miscarriages of justice resulting from unreliable Horizon evidence are identified and quashed.

A spokesperson said: “It was only following the decisions of the courts in England and Wales in 2019 and 2021 that the full extent of the bugs and errors in Horizon became known. Until that point, the Post Office continued to maintain that the Horizon system was reliable and secure.”

They added: “The Post Office told COPFS in 2013 that its external lawyers had reviewed all potentially affected Scottish cases and found no issues.

“As in 2015, COPFS received no further evidence promised by the Post Office to demonstrate that Horizon was as robust as they suggested. COPFS has therefore decided to no longer rely on Horizon until the Post Office has provided further evidence.”

Regarding Lord Mulholland’s role as former head of service, the spokesperson said:

“In her statement to the Scottish Parliament in January, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC confirmed that there is no record of Lord Mulholland making decisions in relation to cases involving Horizon evidence.”

A Post Office spokesperson previously said: “We deeply regret the mistakes of the past and are doing everything we can to put them right, including extensive work to support the overturning of wrongful convictions.

“This work includes assisting the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.”