Jailed Post Office staff will hear results of appeal next month
Four former Post Office workers from the West Midlands who say they were wrongly jailed because of a computer glitch are expected to be told next month whether their convictions will be overturned.
A panel of judges in the Court of Appeal said they would announce their findings in April after hearing their cases.
Rubbina Shaheen, 55, from Shrewsbury, Tracy Felstead, 38, from Telford, Neelam Hussain, 32, who kept a post office in West Bromwich, and Carl Page, 54, who kept a post office in Rugeley are all seeking to clear their names.
They are among 42 former post-office staff who say they were wrongly convicted due to evidence from the Post Office's computer database, known as Horizon.
The Post Office, which brought the prosecutions in the first place, has acknowledged that the Horizon evidence was floored, and that all but three of the appeals should be allowed.
Mr Shaheen, former sub-postmistress of Greenfields Post office in Shrewsbury, was jailed for 12 months in 2010 on a charge of false accounting in relation to an alleged £40,000 shortfall from the branch.
Miss Felstead, of Bournside Drive, Telford, was jailed for six months in 2001 after being convicted of stealing £11,500. She was an 18-year-old counter assistant at the time of her arrest.
Mr Page, who kept Anson Road post office in Rugeley, was jailed for two years in 2007 for allegedly stealing £94,000. Mrs Hussain who kept the Farley Centre post office in West Bromwich town centre was jailed for 21 months in 2011 for allegedly stealing £21,000.
In December 2019, the Post Office agreed to pay out £57.75 million in compensation and legal costs to a total of 555 former post-office workers who brought a civil action against the company in the High Court.
It was during that hearing that Mr Justice Fraser ruled that the evidence from the Horizon computer system was unreliable.
A Post Office spokeswoman has apologised for its handling of their case.
“We sincerely apologise for historical failings and have taken determined action to address the past, ensure redress for those affected and prevent such events ever happening again," she said.
