First Post Office Capture conviction goes to appeal

Software predated scandal-hit Horizon

- By Josh Payne

THE first criminal conviction linked to Post Office software that predates the notorious Horizon system is to go to the Court of Appeal.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission said the case of Patricia Owen, who was found guilty of five counts of theft in June 1998, has been referred on the grounds of abuse of process.

Patricia had always protested her innocence and blamed the Post Office Capture system after her branch in Broad Oak, Canterbury, was left with a £6,000 shortfall.

She was sentenced to six months, suspended for two years.

The case is being sent to the Court of Appeal posthumously following an application by Patricia’s family after she died in 2003.

'I feel angry she is not here because she died before her time'