Court case

How the Post Office Horizon prosecutions unfolded

Sub-postmasters who brought group litigation alleged that shortfalls shown by the Horizon accounting system could be caused by bugs, errors and defects in the system, and that Post Office wrongly treated those shortfalls as debts or evidence of theft and false accounting. Convicted sub-postmasters argued in the Court of Appeal that their prosecutions were unfair and an abuse of process.

11 December 2019 to today · 9 dated events · 18 sources
Where it stands now · as of 30 October 2026

As of 30 October 2026, convictions have been quashed by the Court of Appeal and by the 2024 Act, redress payments are continuing, the police investigation is ongoing without announced charges, and the inquiry's remaining report volumes are awaited.

2019
11 Dec 2019
Settlement

Post Office and the group litigation claimants agree settlement terms shortly before the Horizon Issues judgment, reported as 57.75 million pounds

Settlement of Bates & Others v Post Office Limited group litigation. The Court of Appeal recorded that the claimants and Post Office agreed terms of settlement at the end of 2019, shortly before Fraser J handed down the Horizon Issues judgment. The Law Society Gazette reported the sum as 57.75 million pounds and quoted the chairman as accepting Post Office had got things wrong in its dealings with a number of postmasters. Neither source describes an admission of legal liability.

16 Dec 2019
Turning point
Ruling

High Court hands down the Horizon Issues judgment in Bates v Post Office

Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd (No 6: Horizon Issues) [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB). The court ruled on the Horizon Issues. As later summarised by the Court of Appeal, Fraser J found numerous bugs, errors or defects in Horizon capable of causing, and that did in fact cause, shortfalls in branch accounts. He concluded that Legacy Horizon was not remotely robust and that the later HNG-X version, while slightly more robust, still had a significant number of bugs, errors and defects.

· · · 16 months later
2021
23 Apr 2021
Ruling

Court of Appeal quashes 39 convictions in Hamilton & Others v Post Office Limited

Hamilton & Others v Post Office Limited [2021] EWCA Crim 577. The court allowed 39 appeals and dismissed 3. It held that Post Office knew of serious issues about Horizon's reliability, failed to investigate and disclose them adequately, and that prosecuting the Horizon cases was an affront to the conscience of the court. It accepted and adopted Fraser J's findings that there were significant problems with Horizon throughout the relevant period.

· · · 37 months later
2024
24 May 2024
Finding

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 receives Royal Assent

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 (c. 14). The Act provides for the quashing of convictions in England and Wales and Northern Ireland for certain offences. Section 1(1) states that every conviction to which the Act applies is quashed on the Act coming into force.

· · · 13 months later
2025
2026
26 May 2026
Statement

Police update says 53 people are under investigation in Operation Olympos

Operation Olympos investigation update. Police said 53 people were under investigation, 13 of whom had been interviewed under caution. They said they aimed to submit files for charging decisions in late 2027 or early 2028. The update reports no charges.

8 Jul 2026
Statement

Inquiry Chair says the remaining volumes are still some months away

Progress update from the Chair. The Chair said he was still some months away from completing the rest of the report. Volumes 2 to 5 are to be published together and Volume 6 not before them. Warning letters had been sent for Volumes 2 and 3, with those for Volumes 4 to 6 to follow in the coming months. No publication date was given.

24 Sep 2026
Turning point
Ruling

Ministry of Justice reports 620 individuals with convictions quashed by the 2024 Act

Quashed convictions management information (data to 15 September 2026). 620 individuals in England and Wales had at least one conviction quashed by the 2024 Act. The ministry had received and assessed 1,011 cases.

16 Oct 2026
Legal step

Post Office Horizon financial redress data as of 30 September 2026

About 1,731 million pounds had been paid to over 14,000 claimants. The live schemes listed are the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, its appeals process, the GLO scheme and the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme. The closed Overturned Convictions scheme paid 68 million pounds before it closed.

Related timelines

Sources

18 records, ranked by type
  1. 1Official record23 Apr 2021
    Hamilton & Others v Post Office Limited [2021] EWCA Crim 577, judgment
    Courts and Tribunals Judiciary · judiciary.uk
  2. 2Official record23 Apr 2021
    Hamilton & Others v Post Office Limited, summary of judgment
    Courts and Tribunals Judiciary · judiciary.uk
  3. 3Official record16 Dec 2019
    Bates & others v Post Office Limited [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB)
    Courts and Tribunals Judiciary · judiciary.uk
  4. 4Official record16 Dec 2019
    Bates & Ors v the Post Office Ltd (No 6: Horizon Issues) (Rev 1) [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB)
    The National Archives, Find Case Law · caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk
  5. 5Official record24 May 2024
    Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024, introductory text as enacted
    legislation.gov.uk · legislation.gov.uk
  6. 6Official record24 May 2024
    Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024, section 1 as enacted
    legislation.gov.uk · legislation.gov.uk
  7. 7Government document
    Reports and statements
    Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry · postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk
  8. 8Government document8 Jul 2025
    Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry's final report
    Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry · postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk
  9. 9Government document8 Jul 2026
    Progress Update from Sir Wyn Williams
    Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry · postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk
  10. 10Government document16 Oct 2026
    Post Office Horizon financial redress data as of 30 September 2026
    Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK) · gov.uk
  11. 11Government document24 Sep 2026
    Summary: quashed convictions management information, 24 September 2026
    Ministry of Justice (GOV.UK) · gov.uk
  12. 12Subject's own statement
    Horizon & Inquiry, frequently asked questions
    Post Office Limited · corporate.postoffice.co.uk
  13. 13Subject's own statement
    We apologise unreservedly: a message from Post Office Chair Nigel Railton
    Post Office Limited · corporate.postoffice.co.uk
  14. 14Subject's own statement30 Jun 2021
    Post Office statement on postmasters' appeals of historical convictions
    Post Office Limited (Mynewsdesk) · mynewsdesk.com
  15. 15News report11 Dec 2019
    Post Office settles mammoth group action
    Law Society Gazette · lawgazette.co.uk
  16. 16Official record
    Inquiries Act 2005, section 2
    legislation.gov.uk · legislation.gov.uk
  17. 17Source15 Jun 2026
    Post Office Inquiry final report delayed yet again
    Nick Wallis, postofficescandal.uk · postofficescandal.uk
  18. 18Government document26 May 2026
    Operation Olympos investigation update
    National Police Chiefs' Council · prgloo-prod-newsroom-npcc-01.azurewebsites.net

Last updated 30 October 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.