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The number of convictions linked to a second Post Office IT scandal being investigated for miscarriages of justice – has more than doubled, Sky News has learned.

Twenty-one Capture cases have now been submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) for review.

Before Christmas, it was around eight.

They relate to the Capture computing software, which was used in Post Office branches in the 1990s before the infamous faulty Horizon system was introduced.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of stealing after Horizon software caused false shortfalls in branch accounts between 1999 and 2015.

A report last year found that there was a reasonable likelihood that the Capture accounting system, used from the early 1990s until 1999, was also responsible for shortfalls.

If the CCRC finds significant new evidence or legal arguments not previously heard before, cases can be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

More on Post Office Scandal

Lawyer for victims, Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors, says the next steps for the Capture cases and the CCRC are still “some months away”.

He said he is also hopeful that the first cases could be referred to the Court of Appeal before the end of this year.

Screengrabs from Adele Robinson i/v with lawyer for victims of the Capture IT system, Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors
Source P 175500FR POST OFFICE CAPTURE CASES ROBINSON 0600 VT V2 JJ1
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Lawyer Neil Hudgell described victims of the Capture IT system as ‘hideously damaged people’


“Certainly we will certainly be lobbying,” he said. “The CCRC will be lobbying, the advisory board will be lobbying any interested parties, that these are hideously damaged people of advancing years who need some peace of mind and the quicker that can happen the better.”

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In December the government said it would offer ‘redress’ to Post Office Capture software victims

‘We didn’t talk about it’

Among those submitted to the CCRC – Pat Owen’s Capture case was the first.

Her family have kept her 1998 conviction for stealing from her post office branch a secret for 26 years.

Juliet Shardlow daughter of Pat Owen and Adele
Screengrabs from Adele Robinson i/vs with case study. Family of Pat Owen from Kent who was convicted of 1998 from stealing from her post office branch. Now the Capture IT system is suspected of adding errors to the accounts. 
Source P 175500FR POST OFFICE CAPTURE CASES ROBINSON 0600 VT V2 JJ1
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Juliet Shardlow shows Sky News paperwork which could explain discrepancies logged by Capture

Speaking to Sky News they have opened up for the first time about what happened to her.

Pat was a former sub-postmistress, who was found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence.

She died in 2003 from heart failure.

Pat Owen and husband David
Screengrabs from Adele Robinson i/vs with case study. Family of Pat Owen from Kent who was convicted of 1998 from stealing from her post office branch. Now the Capture IT system is suspected of adding errors to the accounts. 
Source P 175500FR POST OFFICE CAPTURE CASES ROBINSON 0600 VT V2 JJ1
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David Owen and his wife Pat in happier times

Her daughters describe her as coming home from court after her conviction “a different woman”.

“We didn’t talk about it,” said Juliet Shardlow. “We didn’t talk about it amongst ourselves as a family, we didn’t talk about it with the extended family.

“Our extended family don’t know.”

Pat Owen's daughter Juliet Shardlow
Screengrabs from Adele Robinson i/vs with case study. Family of Pat Owen from Kent who was convicted of 1998 from stealing from her post office branch. Now the Capture IT system is suspected of adding errors to the accounts. 
Source P 175500FR POST OFFICE CAPTURE CASES ROBINSON 0600 VT V2 JJ1
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Juliet Shardlow said her mum Pat was a different person after her conviction

David Owen, Pat’s husband, said she lost a lot of weight after her conviction and at 62 years old “looked like an old gal of 90”.

Capture evidence never heard in court

Pat’s family kept all the documents from her case safe for over two decades and now a key piece of evidence may turn the tide on her conviction, and potentially help others.

A document summarising the findings of an IT expert described the computer Pat used as having “a faulty motherboard”.

It also stated that this “would have produced calculation errors and may have been responsible for the discrepancies subsequently identified by Post Office Counters’ Security and Investigation team.”

Read more from Sky News:
Sub-postmasters: ‘Still going through hell’
Compensation for victims of Capture
Calls on Fujitsu for compensation

The computer expert was due to give evidence in Pat Owen’s defence at court as part of her trial – but failed to turn up on the day.

The family say they never found out exactly why he didn’t show up at court.

David said there was a computer all set up in the courtroom for the expert to use to show malfunctions.

Husband David Owen
Screengrabs from Adele Robinson i/vs with case study. Family of Pat Owen from Kent who was convicted of 1998 from stealing from her post office branch. Now the Capture IT system is suspected of adding errors to the accounts. 
Source P 175500FR POST OFFICE CAPTURE CASES ROBINSON 0600 VT V2 JJ1
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David Owen said his wife Pat never expected to lose her court case

“I heard, now I can’t remember who from, that he’d done work for the Post Office,” he said.

“If he turned up to be a witness in court for us to he wouldn’t get any more work from the Post Office.”

Despite best efforts the expert has never been tracked down. The Post Office has declined to comment.

David also described how his wife never expected to lose her case.

“She was so confident. She knew she didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.

“But when the guilty verdict came out she actually fell to her knees in the dock crying her eyes out shaking.”

He said the judge then asked if he wanted to say anything, and David said he got up in court and spoke at length about his wife’s innocence.

The government announced in December that they will be setting up a redress scheme for Capture victims, similar to Horizon.

So far around 100 people who suffered after being accused of stealing from their branch, while using Capture, could be eligible for redress.

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Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

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Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

​​​​​​​The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running. 

Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.

The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.

Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure

The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.

The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.

British Steel proceesing

The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.

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The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.

These steel workers could soon be out of work
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These steel workers could soon be out of work

However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.

Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.

British Steel in action

However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.

They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.

British Steel

The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.

Read more:
Car manufacturers fined £461m for collusion
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow

Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.

“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”

British Steel declined to comment.

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Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released

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Prince Andrew's Pitch@Palace branded 'crude attempt to enrich himself' as Chinese spy documents set to be released

Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.

Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.

In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.

The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
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The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew

Pic: Pitch@Palace
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Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace

Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.

So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?

In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.

More on Prince Andrew

The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.

Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.

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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?

Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.

But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.

Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.

Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
Virginia Giuffre says she has days to live
Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed

He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…

“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.

Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.

He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.

He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.

“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”

We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.

With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.

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UK in talks with Brazil over ‘potential sale’ of two Royal Navy amphibious assault ships

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UK in talks with Brazil over 'potential sale' of two Royal Navy amphibious assault ships

The UK is in talks with Brazil over the “potential sale” of the Royal Navy’s two amphibious assault ships that are being ditched to cut costs, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Defence experts said the fact HMS Bulwark – which has only just received an expensive refit – and HMS Albion are being flogged off underlines the pressure on the defence budget even though Sir Keir Starmer keeps talking up his promises to boost expenditure.

The two warships can be used to deploy Royal Marines to shore – a vital capability at a time of growing global threats.

News of the possible sale was first revealed in Latin American media.

One report said the Royal Navy and Brazilian Navy had signed an agreement that would see the UK giving information to the Brazilians on the state of the two ships prior to any purchase.

Asked about the claim that the UK would sell the assault ships to Brazil, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm we have entered discussions with the Brazilian Navy over the potential sale of HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion.

“As announced in November, both ships are being decommissioned from the Royal Navy. Neither were planned to go back to sea before their out of service dates in the 2030s.”

More on Brazil

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, appeared to question the wisdom of the move.

“At Defence orals [House of Commons questions] on January 6th Defence Secretary John Healey said: ‘HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion were not genuine capabilities’,” Mr Cartlidge wrote in a post on social media.

“They’ve just been sold to Brazil.”

Matthew Savill, the director of military science at the Royal United Services Institute, said the plan to sell the vessels demonstrates there “is still life in both these ships”.

He said: “The fact that the UK is prepared to sell off useful amphibious capability – which could be used in evacuation operations or other cases where air transport is difficult – shows just how tight finances are even with the promised budget increase.

“The replacements for these ships are still several years away and won’t be available until the 2030s.”

Read more from Sky News:
Prince Harry’s charity row explained
US seems content to cosy up to Russia instead of imposing tariffs

Mr Savill added: “As an aside, Brazil will probably have greater amphibious capacity than the UK, having previously bought HMS Ocean, the UK’s helicopter assault ship.”

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark entered service two decades ago.

Both are currently held at lower readiness having not been to sea since 2023 and 2017 respectively.

HMS Ocean, a helicopter-landing vessel and once the largest warship in the Royal Navy, was sold to the Brazilian Navy in 2018 after 20 years in service.

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