Conviction based on third ‘faulty’ Post Office system referred for appeal

The criminal conviction of a former subpostmaster from Wales, which was based on evidence from a third, potentially faulty Post Office system, has been referred to the Court of Appeal.

Gareth Snow previously pleaded guilty to false accounting in July 2001 after admitting falsifying documents to cover losses of more than £57,000 at his branch in Denbighshire, resulting in him being jailed for six months.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said his conviction has now been referred to the Court of Appeal after his initial prosecution was based on the Post Office’s potentially faulty Automatic Payment Service (APS) and Automatic Payment Terminal (APT) system.

CCRC chair, Dame Vera Bird KC, said there appeared to be “no indication” the Post Office made an attempt to investigate other causes for the shortfalls in Mr Snow’s accounts, adding that there was evidence the APS/APT system “could cause accounting errors”.

Mr Snow was investigated following an audit at his branch in Corwen in November 2000, with prosecutors eventually alleging he had falsified documents to cover a £57,534.75 loss.

He admitted three counts of false accounting, but said he falsified accounts because of errors caused by the APT that had resulted in accounting shortfalls.

The CCRC said he used APS/APT, which consisted of an electronic terminal connected to the telephone lines used to carry out transactions such as rent, rates, and utility bills.

Records of the transactions were kept in his manual account ledger.

Appeal

The CCRC said he applied for leave to appeal his conviction in 2021 but later abandoned the appeal, and an application to the CCRC was subsequently submitted in March 2023.

The referral of Mr Snow’s case follows that of Patricia Owen, whose theft convictions were based on evidence from Post Office’s Capture system – software which pre-dated the faulty Horizon system.

Post Office’s reliance on Fujitsu’s Horizon software to prosecute subpostmasters has been found to have been responsible for about 1,000 wrongful convictions.

Commenting on the referral in Mr Snow’s case, Dame Vera said: “There is evidence that the APS/APT could cause accounting errors.

“In Mr Snow’s case, he would say that there was no evidence of any actual loss.

“Whilst Mr Snow did not raise issues about the APS/APT at the time, accounting shortfalls were occurring that he could not explain.

“There appears to be no indication that (the Post Office) made any attempt to investigate other possible causes.

“It will now be for the Court of Appeal to decide whether the conviction is unsafe and should be quashed.”