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CROWN OFFICE Office of the Deputy Crown Agent
& PROCURATOR Crown Office
25 Chambers Street
FISCAL SERVICE Edinburoh
SCOTLAND'S PROSECUTION SERVICE EH1 1LA
Post Office Limited
By Email Only DCALegalAssistants:
Our ref: JC/DCA/20240514
Date: 14 May 2024
Dear Post Office Limited,
POST OFFICE LIMITED’S STATUS AS A SPECIALIST REPORTING AGENCY
I refer to my correspondence of 8 March 2024 and to your response of 19 April 2024 regarding
the status of Post Office Limited (“POL”) as a specialist reporting agency (“SRA”) to the Crown
Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (“COPFS”).
In my letter of 8 March 2024, I set out the concerns that are held by COPFS regarding the
repeated failures of POL to disclose to COPFS the extent of the issues in reliability with the
Horizon IT system. I explained that POL’s status as an SRA has been reviewed because of
these failures.
I invited representations from POL on whether it considers itself committed and able to fulfil
the role and responsibilities of an SRA as I had outlined, and I asked whether, given the
consequences of its failures, POL itself considers that it should remain an SRA.
I now understand that POL does not consider wish to retain the status of SRA to COPFS.
I am writing, therefore, to advise that the Lord Advocate has decided that POL will no longer
hold the status of SRA and will now no longer be entitled to investigate and report allegations
of criminality that had previously fallen within its remit of investigation in Scotland to COPFS.
Any future allegations of criminality in Scotland impacting POL must now be reported by POL
to the Police Service of Scotland (“PSOS”). PSOS will investigate and report any suspected
offences itself. I have already spoken to the Deputy Chief Constable of PSOS to make her
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aware of this potential development. I will write to her shortly to confirm that POL is no longer
an SRA.
I note that POL considers itself committed to assisting COPFS, the Scottish Criminal Cases
Review Commission and the High Court of Justiciary is assessing and reviewing potential
miscarriages of justice. Notwithstanding that POL no longer holds the status of SRA, I expect
that it will continue to demonstrate its commitment to assisting in these appeals.
Yours faithfully,
Kenny Donnelly
Deputy Crown Agent, Serious Casework
Crown Office
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