Victims of Post Office Capture scandal say they're being treated as 'second-class' citizens

Victims of the Post Office Capture ungraded accidental they're being treated arsenic second-class citizens - accusing the authorities of moving a "two-tier" compensation system.

It comes arsenic the Department for Business and Trade announced the motorboat of the archetypal ever redress strategy for those wronged aft faulty bundle created mendacious accounting shortfalls successful the 1990s.

Capture was utilized betwixt 1992 and 1999 successful up to 2,500 Post Office branches - with galore sub postmasters making up currency losses themselves.

A authorities commissioned study past twelvemonth recovered it was apt the bundle caused accounting errors.

The Capture Redress Scheme volition supply payments of up to £300,000, and much successful "exceptional" cases, to erstwhile postmasters who suffered fiscal losses.

Steve Marston, who was convicted successful 1998 of stealing from his branch, and is not yet eligible to use to the scheme, said different victims were feeling "frustrated" with it.

"I privation to know, what bash they see exceptional circumstances?" helium said, "because I privation it to spot it successful achromatic and achromatic what they see arsenic exceptional circumstances alternatively than conscionable a vague statement."

He said that victims felt similar "second-class" citizens describing the Horizon schemes and the caller Capture strategy arsenic "two tier" systems.

"(It's) 1 instrumentality for the Horizon victims, and a wholly antithetic instrumentality for america Capture victims and that's not truly fair.

"One of the main bones of contention is the information that with Horizon there's a close of entreaty against decisions, and you've got aggregate rights to appeal.

"Whereas with the Capture entreaty process, there's lone a one-shot accidental truthful basically, it's a second-class system."

The strategy volition beryllium tested for the archetypal 150 claimants earlier a afloat roll-out.

Chris Roberts, whose parent Liz was jailed successful 1999 for theft, is 1 of them and said victims were acrophobic astir the "glacial pace" of government.

He is capable to use to the redress strategy connected behalf of his father, who was a postmaster alongside his parent who oversaw accounts.

Both Liz and Bill Roberts person passed away.

"I'd hatred america to get to the constituent where, you know, this scheme's travel retired and we spell done these 150 cases and past it's further developed … and fractional the radical it would use to are gone," Chris said.

"We volition suffer radical earlier they tin spot justice, and I deliberation that's a unspeakable tragedy."

Under the Capture scheme, eligible claimants volition person an contiguous interim outgo of £10,000.

An autarkic sheet volition past measure last awards done a banding exemplary ranging from £10,000 to £300,000, with higher payments successful exceptional circumstances.

The Post Office curate Blair McDougall, speaking exclusively to Sky News, said helium understood wherefore victims person "low levels of spot successful the state".

He said: "They've been treated appallingly by the state, but what we've done with this strategy is to effort to larn immoderate of those lessons from erstwhile compensation schemes for postmasters that didn't work.

"So we're collecting much grounds from the opening to effort to velocity things up.

"We're trying to springiness sub postmasters the payment of the uncertainty passim this. And I anticipation we volition spot that this strategy treats them with a spot much dignity and a spot much urgency."

He besides said that funds wide for the Capture ungraded were "uncapped", with "no ceiling" connected compensation.

Mr McDougall besides said that the authorities was moving "as accelerated arsenic we perchance can, and that's due to the fact that radical person waited truthful long".

Read more:
At slightest 8 Capture convictions investigated
Major milestone successful Post Office scandal

When asked if helium would personally warrant speedy redress, helium replied: "Absolutely - that's what we are doing today, to marque definite that we person a strategy that gets people's redress arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

"But it's challenging, due to the fact that we're dealing with cases wherever there's not a batch of evidence. So overmuch clip has passed.

So we tried to plan a strategy to get postmasters the payment of the uncertainty and to effort to beryllium arsenic just arsenic possible."

He said wrong the strategy determination was the "opportunity" for victims to marque a "wider lawsuit of the interaction connected their lives - and if the autarkic sheet feels that determination is simply a compelling case, they tin spell beyond that £300,000."