London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Horizon scandal: Two more sub-postmasters exonerated

Horizon scandal: Two more sub-postmasters exonerated

Two more former sub-postmasters have been exonerated over the Post Office Horizon scandal, taking the number of overturned convictions to 75.

Richard Ormerod, 79, and Gillian Harrison, 69, had both been convicted of fraud charges based on evidence from the Post Office's faulty IT system.

Their convictions were quashed at Southwark Crown Court with no opposition to their appeals.

The Post Office said it was sorry for "historical failings".

Mr Ormerod, who worked at the Summerhouse Post Office near Darlington, was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 costs after pleading guilty to three charges of fraud by false accounting relating to a £31,097 shortfall in the branch accounts in 2004.


'Lives plagued'


Mrs Harrison pleaded guilty at Newcastle under Lyme Magistrates' Court in Staffordshire to four offences in relation to an alleged cash shortfall of £1,474 at her Post Office in Dresden, Stoke-on-Trent, in 2005 and was sentenced to a 12-month rehabilitation order and ordered to pay £1,474 compensation plus £320 costs.

Despite their guilty pleas, both had consistently denied taking any money and, at the latest hearing on Thursday, Judge Deborah Taylor allowed their appeals.

"The convictions are quashed," she said, adding: "Both Mr Ormerod and Mrs Harrison have been of good character throughout. It is a recognition and a public exoneration of you."

Mr Ormerod thanked the judge, while Mrs Harrison burst into tears, as the pair were supported by loved ones in the public gallery.

Graeme Hall, representing the appellants, said the convictions had "plagued their lives for many years".


'Couldn't face the truth'


Mrs Harrison said the ordeal had "destroyed" her life and those of her family, but that she now wanted to look to the future and encourage others who were wrongly convicted to get justice.

"I think the Post Office is diseased and it needs eradicating," she said, adding: "I just want people to come forward. It is important."

Mr Ormerod said he could not believe that the hundreds of sub-postmasters convicted were all guilty and that it must have been the Horizon system all along.

"They were so heavy-handed at the top end, and they couldn't bear to face the truth," he said, adding: "Nothing will happen to them, they have just been allowed to carry on."

Simon Baker QC, representing the Post Office, said: "Both are cases in which the convictions were predicated upon the Horizon computer system with which the court is now familiar."

A Post Office spokesman said it had "undertaken fundamental reforms" and was "sincerely sorry for the impact of historical failures on the lives of the people affected".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
×