A FORMER Taunton sub-postmaster has met with the Post Office minister to review his conviction.

Steve Marston believes he was wrongfully convicted of theft and false accounting errors caused by the Capture software.

A predecessor to Horizon, Capture was developed by the Post Office before being rolled out in 1992.

Shortfalls of £79,000 were found at his branch in 1998, he said, forcing him to plead guilty in a bid to avoid jail time.

He made the case to Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake (Con, Thirsk and Malton) in a meeting arranged by his constituency MP, Rebecca Pow (Con, Taunton Deane).

An independent review has been ordered to assess possible glitches in the Capture software.

Mr Marston said: “Both my wife and myself would sincerely like to thank Rebecca for her fantastic help in bringing my case to the minister’s attention.

“We feel that we had a very productive meeting and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their support and kind words.

“It is my hope that not just my case but everyone else who have had their lives destroyed by faulty software called Capture can look forward to a speedy and just resolution to this miscarriage of justice and give us the opportunity to draw a line beneath it and carry on with our heads held high for the rest of our lives.”

Rebecca Pow said: “The distress and impact that the Post Office Capture system has had on Mr Marston and his family is unimaginable.

“I first became aware of Mr Marston’s case in early January and raised concerns with the Post Office minister, Kevin Hollinrake, immediately.”

Kevin Hollinrake, added: “We want to get to the truth.

“We are interested in justice and I give my assurances that we will get the right person to test the evidence.

“I want to thank MP Rebecca Pow for acting swiftly on behalf of her constituent Steve Marston and for bringing this to my attention.”