Kathleen Crane, 68, was one of more than 700 sentenced between 1999 and 2015 after defective Fujitsu software suggested money was missing from their branches.
The mother of two said her 14-year ordeal, in which she “suffered in silence”, was “horrible” after being handed a 12-month community order and ordered to repay more than £18,000 in 2010.
Daughter Katy Crane, who joined her mum at court alongside sister Lucy, said afterwards: “I don’t know how they [the Post Office] sleep at night. I absolutely think someone should serve jail time. Somebody needs to be held to account.”
Three appeal judges ruled there was “no doubt” that Kathleen’s conviction was unsafe, adding that she was “kept in ignorance” over the Horizon system’s defects.
Giving their judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde said: “We have no doubt that her prosecution was an abuse of process.”
Emotional with relief and jubilation, the care home worker’s first thought outside the court was for others affected by the scandal.
She urged them to come forward, saying: “If you’re innocent you should have your conviction quashed.” Her case is the first of many expected to reach the Court of Appeal as a result of the Post Office’s case review, with the firm contacting her last June to say it believed there was a miscarriage of justice.”
With the support of daughter Katy, she lodged an appeal on January 10, which the Post Office did not resist.
Flora Page, representing Kathleen in court, said she “suffered in silence” after her “appalling experience”, adding that a “fraud she had not committed brought its own humiliation”. Ms Page added: “She is somewhat overcome with the prospect of clearing her name.”
Kathleen’s husband Robert, who died in 2016, became sub-postmaster of the Old Town Post Office in Eastbourne in October 2000, but she took over due to his ill health.
Poignantly, Kathleen wore his scarf yesterday. An audit in 2010 found a financial shortfall and Kathleen was accused of defrauding the Government-owned company of £18,721.52.
During the probe, she said she had been aware of inexplicable shortfalls since 2008 and asked for them to be probed, but no action was taken.
Simon Baker KC, representing the Post Office, said while the firm was duty-bound to investigate on evidence available at the time, the case “amounts to an abuse of process”.
He also told the court three appeals against convictions were lodged in the past week.
