By Amelia Hughes and Saffron Mckee

The Lord Advocate today apologised to Scots affected by the Horizon Post Office scandal and said that they were failed by trusted institutions.

Dorothy Bain said: ‘I’m very deeply troubled by what has occurred and I remain acutely concerned that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was repeatedly misled by the Post Office.’

‘To those wrongfully convicted, I understand your anger and I apologise for the way you have been failed by trusted institutions and the criminal justice system and I stand beside you in your pursuit of justice.’

The Post Office scandal saw more than 900 postal workers prosecuted due to faulty software which made it look like money was missing from their branches. In Scotland 100 workers were criminalised, with only 4 having had their conviction overturned in the Crown Office. 

The scandal has since inspired the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which saw the issue brought back into the spotlight. Since 100 new victims have come forward.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 700 people, based on the information from a computer accounting system called Horizon. At this time a further 283 cases were brought forward by other powers, including the Crown Prosecution Service.

The victims of this were financially ruined, went to prison for false accounting and theft, even though problems had been repeatedly identified with the software. Campaigners won a legal battle to have their cases reconsidered, however only 93 convictions have been overturned at this point.