James Hartley (pictured), Partner and National Head of Dispute Resolution at national law firm Freeths, is the extraordinary lawyer who, along with his team, won two landmark court cases on behalf of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office.
He has been depicted by actor John Hollingworth in the major four-part 2024 ITV drama 鈥楳r. Bates v The Post Office鈥� which aired in January, followed by a documentary on the case for which James was interviewed.
The TV drama told the story of Alan Bates, a former sub-postmaster, and his campaign on behalf of the victims of one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in British legal history when hundreds of postmasters were accused of fraud, theft and false accounting by the Post Office over a faulty Horizon IT system.
In the face of intransigence, obfuscation, and worse on the part of the Post Office, James and his team fought to take the case of the 555 sub-postmaster victims to the High Court after two other law firms had previously tried and failed. After a painstaking group litigation, judgments led to a Public Inquiry being set up in 2020, which was converted to a statutory inquiry in June 2021. The Inquiry is ongoing.
In a recent LinkedIn Live interview, James Hartley is of no doubt that, 鈥渉ad Post Office Limited considered the potential human impact of a flaw in its Horizon accounting system, and looked at the evidence holistically, it would have avoided the catastrophic human damage inflicted on thousands of its postmasters and averted the PR disaster that unfolded."
Commenting on his experiences of working with James Hartley and his team, Sir Alan Bates said of Freeths: 鈥淎 first-class and extremely competent firm that came to the aid of a major victims' group when all else had failed to expose the truth and when justice had eluded the group for many years. Having failed to find legal support for so long, Freeths took the victims on board and helped to deliver outstanding success with judgments that have changed so many lives."听
Since the documentary aired earlier this year, scores of sub-postmasters have now had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. In April 2021, 39 were exonerated in one judgment which described the wrongful convictions as an 鈥榓ffront to justice鈥�. In all around 20 sub-postmasters were jailed.
What next
Freeths recently announced it is now to advise postmasters and other people who are among the hundreds whose criminal convictions are being overturned as a result of the flawed Horizon IT system.
The launch of the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) will deliver benefit to those who have had to live with wrongful convictions for years and have not yet received compensation after the original High Court rulings secured by Freeths and Justice for Postmasters Alliance (JFSA).
Balvinder Gill, who was accused by the Post Office of stealing more than 拢100,000, suffered years of emotional distress after he was made bankrupt, shunned from his community and his marriage broke down. He is just one of the original 555 postmasters which Freeths has helped through the GLO compensation scheme.
鈥淚 feel relieved and have some closure now and the way my case was handled by Freeths was impeccable from start to finish. The lawyers were companions and completely believed in me the whole way.
鈥淚 finally now feel that I鈥檓 getting my life together. I can look forward and I have some financial stability instead of the uncertainty about where my life is.
鈥淭he future feels more positive than certainly it did and it鈥檚 about staying grounded and feeling reassured.
鈥淢y message to anyone out there who has been affected by the Horizon scandal is to come forward. However afraid you are, the tables have turned, and the truth is shining through. I lived in the shadows for many years but please don鈥檛 feel defeated. You CAN move from victim to survivor and Freeths can give you the closure you need.鈥�
Freeths are now urging people to come forward to find out if they are eligible under the new scheme and can be contacted on OverTurnedConvictionTeam@freeths.co.uk.
Those who are eligible for the HCRS will have:
- Either managed or worked (with or without an employment contract) in a Post Office branch that was using or had installed the Horizon system
- Been convicted between 23 September 1996 and 31 December 2018 of offences including false accounting, theft or fraud (including conspiracy to commit these offences)
- Been based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland (Scotland has a separate system)
- Relatives of deceased victims who have sadly died are also able to apply.
贵谤别别迟丑蝉'听, led by James Hartley, is now considered to be one of the foremost Dispute Resolution teams in the UK.