Law students gain insight from wrongfully convicted sub-postmasters
Law students in the School of Social Sciences heard first-hand from three wrongfully convicted sub-postmasters about their fight for justice with the Post Office.
On Tuesday, 19 February, law students at 黑料网吃瓜爆料 had a unique opportunity to hear first-hand from three sub-postmasters - Janet Skinner, Seema Misra, and Tom Hedges - who were wrongfully convicted due to flaws in the Post Office鈥檚 Horizon accounting system.
This event, part of the 'Miscarriages of Justice' module, provided students with a stark insight into the consequences of corporate negligence and prosecutorial misconduct.
Rochelle Rossi, a student who attended the lecture, found it profoundly impactful:
Hearing the first-hand accounts of the sub-postmasters and how it has affected their livelihoods, including how no compensation will rectify what happened to them, was truly eye-opening.
First-hand accounts of injustice
During the event, the speakers shared their deeply personal and distressing experiences.
Janet Skinner, who was sentenced to nine months in prison for false accounting in 2006, spoke about the devastating impact on her life, 鈥淥nce inside, I was placed on suicide watch for a week because of my state of mind.鈥� After her release, stress triggered an autoimmune attack that left her paralysed from the neck down. Although she fought back and relearned how to walk, she remains permanently disabled.
Seema Misra was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2010 after being wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting. She was ordered to pay 拢40,000 in compensation to the Post Office.
The Post Office concealed material that would have enabled me to successfully appeal my conviction. On being sentenced, I was admitted to hospital. Had I not been pregnant, I would have considered taking my own life.
Tom Hedges faced a 拢23,000 shortfall in 2010 and was advised to plead guilty to false accounting to avoid a custodial sentence. He was sentenced to seven months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and had to pay the Post Office 拢1,000 in legal fees.
Before Horizon, only four people a year were convicted of false accounting, but after its introduction, it became one person a week for 14 years.
Common barriers to justice
Despite the differences in each story, common barriers emerged throughout. The concealment of crucial documents, the immense financial and reputational power of the Post Office, and the systemic failures that allowed such injustices to persist all played a role.
Both Tom and Seema used their own money to cover the deficits created by the faulty Horizon system, and when faced with prosecution, they had to rely on Legal Aid to secure defence lawyers.
The Post Office had a dedicated in-house legal team that remained focused on the cases. The high cost of legal support made it difficult for sub-postmasters to afford effective counsel, and the deliberate withholding of evidence proving their innocence further undermined their ability to mount a proper defence.
Each sub-postmaster was made to believe theirs was the only case, further hiding the widespread nature of the Horizon IT issues. By isolating each defendant, the Post Office was able to hide the IT issues for longer and falsely prosecute more than 900 innocent people in total.
Addressing systemic failures
A Q&A session following the testimonies allowed staff and students to pose questions to Janet, Seema, and Tom, who gave their candid thoughts.
When asked whether they still had faith in the system, the speakers expressed confidence in their current legal teams but scepticism toward institutional accountability. The latest news of the Home Office granting Fujitsu over 拢25 million in new contracts was mentioned, highlighting concerns over government contracts. "They are awarding bad behaviour鈥攚hat incentive is there for change?" Seema Misra questioned.
Despite being invited to numerous meetings with government officials, including Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, trust in government to change things has not been restored with Janet Skinner remarking:
You go in with empty words, come out with broken promises.
Since starting the fight for compensation, the sub-postmasters have renewed trust in the legal profession, even understanding why they had been advised to enter guilty pleas initially. They implored the law students to make decisions in the future with ethics and people in mind, thinking of the bigger picture and the person behind a case.
Lessons for our law students
Professor Claire McGourlay, Director of the 黑料网吃瓜爆料 Innocence Project, emphasised the significance of hearing directly from those affected:
You can read about the Post Office cases from so many different sources, but hearing Seema, Janet, and Tom speak highlights the human cost of failures in our legal system, inequality, and injustice.
The event at 黑料网吃瓜爆料 provided law students with a profound learning experience, emphasising the importance of ethical decision-making and the need for systemic reform. The first-hand accounts of Janet Skinner, Seema Misra, and Tom Hedges highlighted the human cost of wrongful convictions and the urgent need for change in the legal and corporate systems.
As future legal professionals, the students were reminded of their role in preventing such injustices and advocating for a fairer, more just society.
with further details on the sub-postmasters experiences.