SOLICITOR and former employee of law firm Cartwright King, Martin Smith, on Thursday (2) said that wrongly-convicted sub-postmistress Seema Misra is 'owed the truth.
Lawyer Edward Henry KC, who represents Misra, was questioning Smith on advice given by Brian Altman KC during the Post Office inquiry.
During the inquiry, it was revealed that Smith received an email from Simon Clarke, who was a barrister at Cartwright King at the time. The email contained only the word "phew."
This message, sent in 2014, originally contained a comprehensive review of the Misra case, but was reduced to just the word "phew" and three exclamation marks after Harry Boywer, another employee at Cartwright King, was removed from the case.
Though Smith responded to the email, the specific details of his response were not disclosed.
According to file notes, lawyers expressed fear about providing Misra, who was pregnant when imprisoned, with a potential pathway to the Court of Appeal.
The inquiry was shown notes from a May 2015 telephone call between Smith and Andrew Parsons, then a solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson.
These notes highlighted concerns regarding disclosure issues and the potential consequences of the Post Office proceeding with draft responses to the case review report without considering these disclosure issues.
It was noted that such actions could tarnish the Post Office's integrity, as disclosure might provide grounds for Misra to appeal her conviction.
When Julian Blake, counsel to the inquiry, inquired about whether this reference indicated concern about Misra's potential for a successful appeal, Smith clarified that this was not the case.
In 2010, Misra was sentenced to 15 months in prison following a £74,000 shortfall at her Surrey Post Office branch.
Smith revealed that he accepted it was a “sensible approach” to ban convicted sub-postmasters from the mediation scheme.
The inquiry also heard from Chris Aujard, the Post Office’s former most senior in-house lawyer. It was revealed that he received a warning in a report that Post Office investigators viewed sub-postmasters as adversaries to the business.
Aujard, who became the organisation’s general counsel in 2014, was provided with a draft report shortly after assuming the role. The report, commissioned by his predecessor Susan Crichton and prepared by Ron Warmington of Second Sight, highlighted a culture within the investigation team that presumed guilt rather than aiming to uncover the truth.
According to the document, investigators were primarily focused on eliciting admissions of false accounting and often disregarded assertions of innocence. The report noted that sub-postmasters were perceived as enemies of the business by the investigation team, creating a culture of presuming guilt rather than seeking truth.
Aujard acknowledged having seen the report but could not recall taking further action after reading it.
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