The Know Daily - Thursday 11 January 2024

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One elephant, two elephants… London Zoo has started 2024 with its annual animal stocktake, counting everything from Galapagos giant tortoises to Sumatran tigers. Despite describing the count as a “mammoth” task, the zookeepers made it look pretty fun for residents and visitors alike.

📮 Sub-postmasters exonerated

Hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal are to have their convictions quashed by parliament this year.

Tell me more. 
On Wednesday, PM Rishi Sunak told the Commons that a new law will be introduced to ensure those wrongly convicted are “swiftly exonerated and compensated”. 

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted for fraud relying on data from the faulty Horizon software. Widely regarded as the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history, to date fewer than 100 people have had their convictions overturned.

What’s the compensation?
While full details of the law are yet to be published, anyone who has their conviction overturned will be given an upfront offer of £600,000. £75,000 will also be awarded to 555 workers who took their case to the High Court in 2019, which resulted in the Post Office agreeing to pay damages.

Why now? 
The news follows a “two-decade battle for justice”, noted The Independent, and a recently-released ITV mini-series called Mr Bates vs the Post Office which “prompted a public outcry”.

Alan Bates - the drama’s titular character - welcomed yesterday’s news. “This was the decent thing to do,” he told The Times, but added: “There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Anything else?
Senior lawyers expressed concern at the government’s announcement, The Guardian reported, stressing that the decision to pass a bill overturning court verdicts should be seen as a one-off.

And a former Post Office investigator will later face questions at the public inquiry into the scandal, which has been underway since 2021.