Steve Robson

More than two years after I first reported his story, Steve Marston's case has FINALLY been referred to the Court of Appeal. The CCRC says it may have been an 'abuse of process' because it involved the faulty Capture system. Latest for @theipaper inews.co.uk/news/i-exposed…

Accurate 🤣

'I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn't allowed' 'On day lets do one of these events not livestreamed. We'll do all the naughty stuff' Sarah Pochin says she wants to wear a tartan burka at Reform's Scottish Election launch

🏟️ Man Utd stadium latest 🏟️ Understand Freightliner, the company whose land is crucial to the current plans, may not even be able to vacate the plot until 2031, at best. One year after Sir Jim Ratcliffe planned to have it all finished by... #MUFC inews.co.uk/sport/football…

#PostOfficeScandal Latest piece by @SteveRobson04 for the @theipaper We see yet again the @PostOffice saying all the right things in public, before the @CommonsBTC earlier this year, their Chairman Nigel Railton stating they would support mass exoneration by legislation and yet now intend to fight all Capture Cases in court. They have never learnt a single lesson from this scandal. I assume this has been sanction by government departments, as they fully control the Post Office (@biztradegovuk ). Everything they say is more double speak. Victims received a fair trial, yet Post Office cannot find all the documentation / evidence. Capture was irrelevant to the conviction, yet they cannot produce all the documentation. They are an absolute disgrace. Post Office will fight Capture victims’ appeals despite admitting IT was faulty‼️ The Post Office is blocking attempts to overturn convictions linked to its faulty Capture software claiming sub-postmasters were able to receive a “fair trial” despite its flaws, The i Paper can reveal. At least 29 sub-postmasters are still waiting to clear their names despite the Government having accepted the findings of an independent review that Capture, a primitive piece of accounting software rolled out in the 1990s, was defective. An investigation by The i Paper revealed how sub-postmasters were forced to hand over cash, sacked, and in some cases prosecuted, in a precursor to the Horizon scandal. A new Capture compensation scheme is open with the first victims having already received £10,000 interim payments and some receiving final settlement offers. But those who were criminally prosecuted by the Post Office will not receive a penny until they are able to overturn their convictions. In a report published this week, MPs from the Business and Trade Committee called on the Government to quash Capture-related convictions, as happened with the 900 Horizon convictions. But the Government has so far resisted such calls and the first Capture case involving Patricia Owen, a sub-postmistress convicted of theft in 1998, has now reached the Court of Appeal. She died in 2003 but her family have continued the fight to clear her name. In January, The i Paper revealed how the Post Office has left campaigners incensed by opposing Mrs Owen’s application. The move came just weeks after Chairman Nigel Railton told MPs he would support mass exoneration for those with Capture convictions. Now The i Paper has obtained a copy of the Post Office’s ‘Respondent’s Notice’ lodged with the court, which sets out the reasons for its challenge to Mrs Owen’s appeal. A central claim is that “the reliability of Capture” was not “essential” to the prosecution, even though the Post Office admits it has been unable to locate the “full” prosecution file. Mrs Owen was prosecuted with five counts of theft relating to Pension and Allowance (P&A) books and stood trial in 1998. At the time, customers would use a specified Post Office to claim their benefits each week. The sub-postmaster would tear off a voucher and pay out the cash and then send off a list to both the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Post Office to claim it back. Like many others, Mrs Owen carried out the process manually using written ledgers for years before the Post Office introduced their first computer system, Capture. A summary of his evidence states there were “various faults; some 200 or so had been identified within the program”. Despite this evidence, the Post Office has told the Court of Appeal that: “The reliability of Capture does not appear to have been essential to the prosecution and conviction.” The Post Office has acknowledged Mrs Owen’s case could be the first of many Capture cases to come to the Court of Appeal, and has told the court its position is likely to be the same for any others. Read the full piece👇 inews.co.uk/news/post-offi…

Reaction to my latest story on the Capture scandal at the Post Office. The PO has filed an "aggressive" notice opposing the first conviction being overturned. Victims are angry and questioning who in the PO is signing off on all this. And where is the Government?

At least 29 sub-postmasters are still waiting to clear their names, but the Post Office has indicated it will challenge their appeals – despite publicly claiming to support mass exoneration trib.al/fI7nbp6

Bluffing or lying to journalists about anything uncomfortable has become standard practice these days. This isn't just in No10, it's in press offices across the public/private sector. It's a very depressing culture.

HS2, the world’s most expensive railway, currently ends in a field The Labour government says it would like to see a new line between Birmingham and Manchester. But, the track will stay incomplete until the 2040s Read the full article here: trib.al/F6dhLQQ

Andy Burnham says the Duchy of Lancaster is treating people in the north as “second-class citizens” after failing to support the clean-up of a huge illegal waste dump near Wigan. An investigation by Channel 4 News uncovered that the estate of King Charles is connected to the site described as the “UK’s most dangerous illegal dump” – containing more than 25,000 tonnes of waste.

The two kilometre 'Manchester spur' of HS2 will end in a field near the village of Fradley, Staffordshire - and is likely to remain unused for decades 🔴 Steve Robson reports Read more: trib.al/C0JT8TF

"When the old boys found out about John’s illness, they gave £5,000, all they could manage, to help buy a wheelchair," said Aston's wife Gaynor. Atrocious. Hard to imagine this happening pre-Ratcliffe era.

Hannah Spencer says she won the Gorton and Denton by-election because the Green Party “grafted” and voters responded to a “normal person” running as a candidate. ⁦@theipaper⁩

“I don’t think the progressives beat us, I think the progressives were told how to vote. “Islamists and woke progressives came together to dominate the constituency.” Reform’s Matt Goodwin claim at the Gorton and Denton by-election. @theipaper

The atmosphere around the Gorton and Denton by-election has been tense. There's been calls to police, dirty tricks, mudslinging, I've seen people arguing in the street. Get the feeling residents are pretty fed up. Thanks to @JonTonge for his thoughts inews.co.uk/news/police-le…

Should Keir Starmer go to bed with a Trollope? @dcsandbrook on the importance of reading.

£99 for a gig at the Ritz to see the Foo Fighters 🤯

Wonderful - interviewed Vinny a long time ago when he was doing some homeless charity work in Manchester. Genuine and lovely bloke.

Tomorrow's front page: Now he's sweating thesun.co.uk/royals/3827496…

.@GrahamSmith_: "Its not just Andrew, there are serious questions being asked, we've heard hecklers asking them, BBC journalists not so much, about what did William & Charles know, when did they know it" The BBC presenter did not like that.