Four suspects identified by police over Post Office scandal so far

Four suspects person truthful acold been identified by constabulary investigating imaginable transgression charges successful the Post Office scandal, Sky News has learned. 

Sources person said that among the offences being considered are perverting the people of justness and perjury.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing from their branches betwixt 1999 and 2015 aft faulty Horizon bundle caused accounting errors.

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The Metropolitan Police is simply a alleged halfway subordinate successful the Post Office nationalist enquiry and has been monitoring and assessing worldly submitted.

It is expected that the fig of suspects being investigated by constabulary could emergence successful the adjacent six to 12 months.

More than a cardinal documents are believed to beryllium being sifted done and the fig of constabulary officers investigating the ungraded has besides risen from 80 to 100, with enactment crossed each azygous constabulary force.

It is not expected, however, that immoderate charges volition beryllium brought earlier 2027/28, and that clip framework could beryllium extended.

A Sky News root said the fig of suspects was seemingly "just a starting point".

A gathering took spot this play betwixt much than 150 sub-postmasters, including Sir Alan Bates, and the Metropolitan Police.

Sir Alan said helium had been told by officers that "it was going to instrumentality a fewer years" and that determination are "no restrictions connected however precocious investigations volition instrumentality them".

He besides said the precedence for sub-postmasters was fiscal redress and then, aft that, victims volition beryllium "looking for radical to beryllium held to account".

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A Metropolitan constabulary spokesperson said: "Yesterday [17 November] we met with Alan Bates and immoderate of the affected sub-postmasters to supply a little connected our advancement and adjacent steps.

"Our probe team, comprising astir 100 officers from forces crossed the UK, is present successful spot and we volition beryllium sharing further details successful owed course.

"Initially 4 suspects person been identified and we expect this fig to turn arsenic the probe progresses."