Private and Confidential
Messrs. Coomber Rich,
Solicitors.
Date: 8" October 2013 Martin.smith{
Our Ref: MS2/22796
Dear Sirs,
Re: Lynette Hutchings
We write to your firm as being the solicitors on the file representing this defendant in
the proceedings which resulted in her being sentenced to a Community Order of 12
months with a requirement that she complete a total of 120 hours of unpaid work for
an offence of false accounting.
On the 8° July 2013 a report into the operations of the Horizon system was published
by an independent organisation which had been commissioned by our clients, Post
Office Ltd. The report is known as the Second Sight Interim report. We have also
received and considered a second report, concerning an investigation into an incident
at another post office, the Helen Rose Report.
We have thoroughly reviewed both the prosecution case and that of your client and in
particular her Defence Statement and Addendum Defence Statement, in the light of
material contained within the Second Sight Interim report and the Helen Rose report.
We have also reconsidered our disclosure duties under the CPIA 1996 and the Code
of Practice enacted thereunder, and the A-G’s Guidelines on Disclosure. We are also
alive to our duties under the common law relating to cases which have been
concluded.
We have formed the firm view that, had the prosecution been possessed of the
material contained within the two reports during the currency of the prosecution of
your client, we should and would have disclosed that material to you in compliance
with our disclosure duties.
The prosecution recognises its obligation post conviction to disclose any information
which may affect the safety of a conviction. Accordingly we now disclose those
reports to you so that you are able to consider whether your client may have grounds
for an appeal against her conviction.
We would also remind you of your duty not to disclose this material to any third party
other than your client; in particular the Helen Rose report is not in the public domain.
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Yours faithfully,
Simon Clarke
Barrister