The Post Office has been stripped of its ability to investigate and report crimes in Scotland after the Horizon scandal.Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain said the Post Office would no longer be a specialist reporting agency "because of its fundamental and sustained failures in connection with Horizon cases in Scotland".The crimes will now be investigated by Police Scotland.An estimated 100 Post Office workers in Scotland were wrongly prosecuted after they were blamed for shortfalls in their accounts caused by a faulty IT system.
Prosecutions were the responsibility of the Crown Office in Scotland, but the information leading to convictions was provided by the Post Office.It comes after the Scottish Government announced earlier this week that it will rush through emergency legislation to exonerate convicted subpostmasters.Bain told MSPs in Holyrood on Thursday afternoon: "I can confirm that because of its fundamental and sustained failures in connection with Horizon cases in Scotland, I have decided that Post Office Limited is not fit to be a specialist reporting agency."It is therefore no longer able to investigate and report criminal allegations directly to the Crown."It should now instead report any allegations of criminality to Police Scotland for them to investigate."She added: "I can also advise that work is ongoing to strengthen the guidance the safeguards that exist to ensure that all Scotland specialist reporting agencies abide by the essential duties of disclosure and candour in the court of cases for prosecution." To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk
Get the latest stars news and celebrity rumours with exclusive stories, photos, videos and interviews.
Breaking up, scandals, engagements, divorces, gossip – all you need to know about the private lives of your favorite celebs.
Get to know the latest showbiz news along with exclusive interviews and even more. All this is waiting for you on the main page 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Who, where, when, with whom, how, why and for what!? Stay tuned to know first!
Just follow us daily and we will provide you with the current news from the life of famous stars and celebrities.
Owner: SNOWLAND s.r.o.
Registration certificate 06691200
Address:
Snowland s.r.o.
16200, Na okraji 381/41, Veleslavín, 162 00 Praha 6
Czech Republic
©2024. All rights reserved.