00:00I'm hoping that the hurt is all over at last.
00:03For 44 years, Simon Edgecombe has insisted he should never have been convicted.
00:08Now, after decades of dead ends, he's finally got hope.
00:12He's been notified that the Criminal Cases Review Commission, CCRC, has begun a screening
00:18process regarding his claims of innocence.
00:20The independent body has powers to obtain evidence and decide whether the conviction
00:24should be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
00:27The CCRC are looking at it simply because it's a massive case for them.
00:31There are so many reasons why it all went wrong.
00:35It's a bit like the judge and the jury.
00:37I can't, well, we can't blame them.
00:39They only went on the evidence they were presented with.
00:42And the evidence they were presented with was manipulated by post office because it suited
00:47their cause.
00:48Simon was jailed for 10 months in 1983 after being convicted of theft from a random sub
00:53post office, which is now a one stop.
00:55A young shop worker, Jane, was also sent to prison.
00:59The thing is, she hasn't been aware of what I've been doing in the background and I want
01:04to get vindication for her.
01:06Simon says the postmaster authorised £750 to be taken from the till to pay for a van he
01:12was selling, promising to replace the money later.
01:15So, the young shop worker at the till handed over the cash.
01:18But, when an audit the next day found the cash missing, both were convicted of theft.
01:24The post office prosecutions people, barristers, suggested that it was coercion, that what I
01:30had done is coerced the girl in there to give me the money.
01:35But the ridiculous part of that was, even if that was true and it wasn't, she was a victim.
01:43But they imprisoned her as well.
01:46The post office have said they have no papers regarding this matter as it's over 40 years
01:51old.
01:52It's not even been established that Post Office Limited was the prosecutor.
01:55He appealed the case in 2016, but it was rejected due to a lack of evidence.
02:00But a new witness account gathered in recent months have prompted a fresh application to
02:05the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
02:07The last time I was stood here we heard from Michael Baker.
02:09He gave his recollection of events which entirely backed up Simon's memories.
02:14What he says in that article is true.
02:17The significance of Michael Baker's testimony is astounding, as Simon is now almost certain
02:22that his case will end up at the Court of Appeal.
02:25It is a big development for them to get involved.
02:27They have lots of powers and they will investigate it and I'm sure they will see from the 26 points
02:35that I've put forward, which are all legal points, they will see there is a case to answer
02:39there.
02:40But Simon says this isn't just about clearing his own name, so is urging anyone who remembers
02:44the Reynon Post Office or its payment practices in the early 1980s to come forward.
02:49Any information is useful, anything, doesn't matter what it is, it's useful.
02:54The impact this case has had on Simon's life has been ongoing, but now, after more than
02:59four decades, he says it's the closest he's felt to being able to clear his name, and hopefully
03:04for others as well.
03:05Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV, Reynon.
Comments