Expert blog: How earlier legal support for sub-postmasters could have made a significant difference in averting miscarriages of justice

Curran, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6371-2975, 2024. Expert blog: How earlier legal support for sub-postmasters could have made a significant difference in averting miscarriages of justice. Nottingham: Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

Sub-postmasters could have received support with documentation and correspondence at all stages, on their employment and their wrongful dismissal, as well as guidance on how to negotiate better outcomes addressing the power imbalances and refusing the Post Office's deliberate policies to bully and isolate. Such early legal support would have addressed the individual sub-postmaster, identifying the trend so they knew they were not alone.

Earlier legal support could have averted 20 years of unnecessary harm, hurt, anxiety, stress, breakdown, suicide, family estrangement, imposts upon children and partners. This includes poor mental health and life outcomes which have also had flow on effects for the NHS, education, life opportunities and the public purse in having to provide a range of additional support services.

This list is by no means exhaustive. Evidence from my research over decades shows earlier legal support not only provides access to justice for the community but also offers benefits to the taxpayer through cost savings. These include preventing the waste of court and judicial time through individual prosecutions and collective court actions being initiated that were unfounded, and averting miscarriages of justice that lead to further appeals and flow on costs to the state in health, social support and in this case costly imprisonment, Parliamentary Inquiries and future redress claims in compensation.

Item Type:	Website content
Creators:	Curran, L.
Publisher:	Nottingham Trent University
Place of Publication:	Nottingham
Date:	23 January 2024
Identifiers:	Number Type 2416279 Other
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Law School
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	26 Mar 2025 16:21
Last Modified:	27 Mar 2025 17:01
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53307

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