A BUNCH OF Gangsters

Anas Sarwar says Post Office behaved like 'the Mob' with little regard for the law,  Scottish Labour leader calls for Lord Advocate to be questioned in parliament

- CHRIS MCCALL

THE Post Office was accused yesterday of acting like gangsters in Scotland by going "door to door" to "extort money from sub-postmasters" caught up in the Horizon scandal.

Labour said evidence at the ongoing public inquiry into the issue heard how the company's bosses had previously pressured store managers "to hand over thousands of pounds that day or face imprisonment".

Speaking at FMQs, Anas Sarwar said the Horizon scandal went beyond individuals who were hauled through the courts.

He told Humza Yousaf there were "big questions for the Crown Office over its role in prosecuting sub-postmasters between 2000 and 2015.

Prosecutors in Scotland were told by the Post Office of potential issues with its Horizon accounting system as far back as 2013.

But the Crown Office said it had received assurances from the company at the time that it would not affect trials.

The First Minister announced this week the Scottish Government would work with Westminster to pass legislation quashing sub-postmasters convictions.

But Sarwar called for Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, Scotland's top law officer, to come to Holyrood to explain the Crown Office's involvement.

He said: "Unlike in England and Wales, where the Post Office itself brought these prosecutions, in Scotland they were carried out by the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal.

"As we've heard, ministers and the Crown were made aware of concerns around unsafe prosecutions in 2013."

Asked about the role of Scottish institutions in the Horizon scandal, Yousaf said: "It would be wholly inappropriate for any government minister to demand to see the evidential basis for a case the Crown was prosecuting.

"The issue here was the evidence provided by the Post Office. I had a conversation with the Lord Advocate again this morning and she is happy to provide a timeline in terms of how the Crown has responded.