A Post Office manager who helped to wrongfully convict a sub-postmistress during the Horizon scandal is handling victims’ compensation claims.
Caroline Richards – who has worked for the Post Office for over 30 years – is reported to have played a key role in the wrongful prosecution of former sub-postmistress Jacqueline McDonald, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison after she was convicted of stealing almost £100,000 from her branch in Lancashire.
Her conviction was overturned in 2021.
Ms Richards now works as a “senior dispute resolution manager” on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme since 2021, assisting with reviewing cases against the Post Office, according to the i newspaper. The job description for the role states that all cases will be “investigated or reviewed fairly and impartially”.
Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has introduced legislation to overturn the wrongful conviction of hundreds of sub-postmasters
According to a court report in the Lancashire Evening Post and Ms McDonald’s witness statement handed over to the Horizon IT inquiry, Ms Richards initiated an investigation into Ms McDonald after discovering a mismatch between the amount of cash declared and the amount of cash being held in her safe.
Campaigners and MPs told the i that the revelations are “outrageous”.
Kevan Jones MP, who has campaigned on behalf of Horizon victims, said it shows the Post Office “just don’t get the sensitivity of these cases” and called for the compensation process to be made completely independent.
In January, the inquiry was told that a former assistant at Ms McDonald’s branch wrote a letter of complaint to the Post Office about Ms Richards and investigator Stephen Bradshaw.
Katie Noblet complained about “the unprofessional, disgusting behaviour and actions” of the pair and said that they came to her place of work in 2009 and that Mr Bradshaw was “very confrontational” and said she couldn’t have legal advice which was a “complete lie”.
There is no suggestion Ms Richards knew the Horizon IT system was faulty at the time of the investigations.
An online public petition with over 50,000 signatures has called on the Post Office to axe Ms Richards from the compensation scheme.
Petitioner David Innes called her appointment an “insult to all of the 550 Post Office staff who were wrongfully prosecuted, including all those still awaiting compensation.”
Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton said postmasters felt there was a ‘complete lack of respect’
Labour MP Mr Jones told i that the appointment of Ms Richards to a job in the compensation scheme is “outrageous”.
“You couldn’t make it up. It shows the Post Office just don’t get it, especially the sensitivity of these cases” he added.
Earlier this year, former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton wrote in an email that two former postmasters who sat on the board as non-executive directors, Saf Ismail and Elliot Jacobs, felt there was a “complete lack of respect for [postmasters]” and that the culture was “toxic”.
Chief executive Nick Read has admitted the Post Office is investigating more than 40 cases of alleged inappropriate behaviour by existing employees relating to the Horizon scandal.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “Claims in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme are assessed by an independent advisory panel of external experts. There is a full governance process for each and every claim. Our sole aim is that every Postmaster affected by the scandal receives full and fair redress as swiftly as possible.”
