For 25 years, Steve Marston tried to put the worst episode of his life out of his mind.
But then, over the New Year holidays in January 2024, the whole country seemed to be watching an ITV drama called Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
It told the story of Sir Alan Bates, one of thousands of sub-postmasters wrongly pursued by the Post Office over supposedly missing money because of its faulty IT system Horizon.
For Mr Marston, the ITV programme was “too painful” to watch because he had suffered an almost identical experience at the hands of the Post Office, except that he never used Horizon.
Today the Government has “officially recognised” that Capture, the IT system Mr Marston used when he ran a Post Office in the 1990s, was also faulty and likely to have caused unexplained losses for sub-postmasters.
A new compensation scheme will be set up by spring 2025, adding to the bill from the Horizon scandal which is already expected to exceed £1bn.
However, ministers have declined to step in and overturn criminal convictions where Capture evidence was used, as they did with Horizon.
In May this year, the former Conservative government used Parliamentary legislation to quash around 900 Horizon convictions en masse.
But Labour is reluctant to use the same method for Capture cases because they have yet to be yet examined by the Court of Appeal.
“It is a great step forward – but I feel gutted that they haven’t taken that next step,” Mr Marston told The i Paper.
“I wouldnt have put my head above the parapet to start this process if I was guilty.
“The whole thing from day one was about clearing my name.
“Then I realised how many other people were involved and it was about helping them get justice as well.”
Mr Marston was prosecuted by the Post Office at Preston Crown Court in 1998 over charges of theft and false accounting after auditors claimed £79,000 was missing from his branch in Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester.
He insists he never stole “a penny” but investigators said the Capture IT system did not make “mistakes ” and pressured him into pleading guilty as the only way to avoid a prison sentence.
Documents show that many people at the Post Office knew that Capture, a simple computer system it IT team had designed in-house, was capable of causing accounting errors.
In fact, the IT team had sent out multiple newsletters to sub-postmasters warning of the different kinds of bugs and glitches that were possible.
The software was so riddled with errors, it was rewritten at least 19 times in the seven-year period it was used between 1992 and 1999.
But for reasons that remain unclear, this context was not acknowledged by Post Office investigators and sub-postmasters were forced to hand over money, sacked, and in some cases criminally prosecuted.
Mr Marston’s prosecution is now one of at least five cases being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the independent body which handles miscarriages of justice.
They could be waiting a long time – Horizon cases were taking at least a year to be put before the Court of Appeal which is why the previous government took the unprecedented decision to intervene.
“I think bearing in mind the circumstances… there’s going to be a lack of evidence, we know that from our own investigations,” said Mr Marston.
“There are no records at Preston Crown Court other than the result.
“The Post Office didn’t even know what my salary was when I was suspended – they’re not going to be able to come up with anything.
“The CCRC have their hands tied behind their back. I think they’ve got to do what they did with Horizon and give us the benefit of the doubt.
“I can understand why the government needs to make sure nobody slips through the net – but I’m also mindful of the fact that when I first came forward I was 67, in a few weeks I’ll be 69, time is slipping away.”
When Mr Marston was convicted in 1998, his face and alleged crimes appeared in the local newspaper, he was made bankrupt and he lost his home.
He left the North West with wife Jan and the two of them struggled to settle anywhere else for many years, the shame of their experience seemed to follow them everywhere.
Friends and some family members did not believe Mr Marston was innocent, causing further friction.
For years, Mr Marston kept a large amount of files relating to his conviction in boxes in the hope it might one day help clear his name, even though he didn’t really know where to start.
The events of 2024 have been overwhelming but after decades of waiting, he now fears justice might come too late.
In February, The i Paper reported on the case of Liz Roberts, a former sub-postmaster’s wife who was jailed over alleged missing money at her branch in the Wirrall in 1999.
Her family believe she also used the Capture IT system.
Ms Roberts was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease when her son Chris first spoke out about her case and she sadly died only weeks later.
“It’s obviously good that the government has officially recognised the Kroll report and that Capture was busted,” said Chris.
“Considering we’ve gone, in ten months, from nothing to a government-endorsed report it is crazy.
“Obviously I’m disappointed that the government has not followed onto exonerating these cases.
“In principle it’s the same thing as Horizon, the Post Office had a botched computer system and people suffered.
“But I’m cautiously optimistic that going forward that’s going to be addressed, we will see what happens.
“From the CCRC we need more speed, a simpler process and a faster process.
“It’s just a case of making sure we’re not waiting longer than we need to.
“It’s too late for my mum to see it but there are others out there.”
Mr Marston also wants to see the government push the CCRC to act on Capture cases “as quickly as possible”.
“I feel if they don’t follow through with this then it’s one law for us and another law for everyone else,” he added.
“The software was different between Horizon and Capture but we all suffered exactly the same way – our reputations were destroyed, there was the financial loss – it’s not fair if we’re not treated the same way.
“It does worry me, I’m 69 in a few weeks and who knows what’s going to happen next.
“I owe it to me family to get this done and while I’m still alive and kicking.”
