Lawyers are key to the Post Office scandal inquiry as much as IT error is

It’s vital that we know whether what unfolded against 736 prosecuted postal workers was solely down to bad technology or an invidious legal process too, writes Chris Blackhurst

An official inquiry is getting under way (AFP via Getty)

Owen Paterson was only one MP. Apparently, a grave injustice had been done to him so the prime minister, backed by the majority of Conservative MPs, went in to bat for the man.

Think, if such a fate was said to have befallen all 650 members of parliament, and for good measure, 86 life peers as well, what then? What would the fuss be like?

That number of Post Office workers were prosecuted, between 2000 and 2014, based on a faulty computerised accounting system. Unlike Paterson, the 736 really do have a case; theirs was a terrible miscarriage of justice that resulted in many of them facing financial ruin, mental health issues and social ostracisation. Some went to prison, while others were fined.