Key Facts
- •Jacqueline Falcon, a post office clerk, pleaded guilty to fraud in 2015 and received a suspended sentence.
- •Her conviction was based on data from the Horizon accounting system.
- •She was unaware of known issues with the Horizon system's reliability at the time of her plea.
- •Subsequent cases revealed systemic problems with Horizon, leading to wrongful convictions of other post office employees.
- •The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) did not oppose Falcon's appeal.
- •The appeal was based on category 1 abuse of process (unfair trial) due to non-disclosure of Horizon's unreliability.
Legal Principles
A guilty plea does not necessarily bar an appeal against conviction if the conviction is unsafe.
R v Josephine Hamilton and Others [2021] EWCA Crim 577
In 'Horizon cases,' where Horizon data is essential to the prosecution and its reliability is questionable, the prosecution may be an abuse of process.
R v Josephine Hamilton and Others [2021] EWCA Crim 577; R v Margaret White and Others [2022] EWCA Crim 435
Failure of disclosure by the Post Office Limited (POL) of known problems with Horizon, preventing a fair trial, constitutes a category 1 abuse of process.
This case
Outcomes
Appeal allowed; conviction quashed.
The court found that Falcon's conviction was unsafe due to the non-disclosure of material evidence regarding Horizon's unreliability, resulting in a category 1 abuse of process. The CPS, while not acting improperly, was hampered by POL's failure to disclose.
Extension of time to appeal granted.
To allow consideration of the newly discovered evidence of Horizon's unreliability.
Leave to adduce fresh evidence granted.
The fresh evidence related to Falcon's unawareness of Horizon’s problems.