Man awaits verdict on false confession to stealing from mother's Post Office

AN Asian man who claims he falsely admitted to stealing funds from his mother's Post Office to prevent her imprisonment is now awaiting a decision on whether his conviction will be overturned.

Ravinder Naga admitted to taking £35,000 after auditors identified a deficit at the Belville Street Post Office in Greenock.

Across the UK, numerous individuals were convicted based on evidence from a flawed IT system called Horizon used by the Post Office.

On Thursday (30), legislation was passed to exonerate all affected sub-postmasters in Scotland.

Those convicted of "relevant offences" will have their convictions automatically annulled once the law is enacted.

To qualify, the convicted individual must have been employed by a Post Office at the time, the conviction must be related to Post Office business, and the Horizon system must have been in use.

However, Naga is uncertain if this applies to him since he was not the sub-postmaster.

In 2009, auditors arrived at the Inverclyde Post Office, where his mother was the sub-postmistress, and discovered an alleged shortfall exceeding £33,000.

Naga, from Port Glasgow, advised his mother to tell investigators he had taken the money to "buy some time." When the missing funds did not resurface, he pleaded guilty to theft, resulting in a sentence of 300 hours of community service.

Naga confessed to protect his mother, believing she would not survive prison. "If someone had to be sacrificed, it was better me than my mum. The family could cope without me, but if my mum had been taken and something happened to her, there would have been no recovery," he told BBC Scotland. His health deteriorated during community service, and he struggled to find work.

He recounted how his parents built their business portfolio, including the Post Office, from scratch after moving to Scotland. His confession preserved his mother's reputation. Naga's father passed away before the alleged shortfall was discovered.

Naga's solicitor, Greg Cunningham, is uncertain if the new Scottish Parliament legislation will clear his client, as Naga was not the sub-postmaster. However, Naga's involvement in helping his mother with the Post Office might qualify him under the new bill. His case is also referred to the court of appeal.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission found that Horizon evidence was crucial in proving the accounting shortfall leading to his prosecution and that Naga might have pled guilty under prejudicial circumstances. Naga, however, maintains his innocence.

Scottish prosecutors have yet to decide whether they will oppose his appeal. His mother fully supports his efforts to clear his name, though the ordeal has left her stressed and tired.

"They’ve taken 15 years of her life. My mum was always a woman who was ambitious and wanted to build something up. To some people this is a TV programme or a news story but to other people it's their life," he said.

"We apologise unreservedly for the hurt and suffering that was caused to victims of the Horizon IT Scandal and their loved ones," said a Post Office spokesperson.

"We know an apology from Post Office is not enough and so our focus remains on supporting the Public Inquiry to establish the truth, working with government to overturn wrongful convictions, and paying redress as quickly as possible."