Criminal Cases Review Commission

Lord Beamish Excerpts

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

The ministry has provided additional funding for the CCRC to look at closed cases where advances in forensic science could now provide new evidence. The CCRC is actively working with the Forensic Information Databases Service to ensure that it can effectively track and revisit unmatched DNA profiles. The CCRC is in the process of amending its case management system so that it can identify and monitor any cases for relevant scientific, medical or other developments—for example, when DNA testing does not produce a profile.

[Lord Beamish (Lab)]

My Lords, the CCRC currently has 10 cases before it of postmasters who used the Capture system, a forerunner of the Horizon software system at the Post Office. Those cases date back to the early 1990s; those individuals are often now in ill health and have been waiting for justice for too long. What pressure can my noble friend put on the CCRC to review those cases as a matter of urgency? Otherwise, those individuals will not get justice before many of them pass away.