Twelve former subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted for crimes as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal have been cleared of all offences.

       The decision by the Court of Appeal on Monday makes a total of 57 former subpostmasters whose convictions have been overturned – some after decades of fighting to have their names cleared.

       In 2019, the Post Office paid a ￡57.75 million settlement after more than 550 claimants brought group legal action over its defective Fujitsu-developed Horizon computer system which was in use between 1999 and 2015.

       The system was found to contain software defects that caused shortfalls in the subpostmasters’ branch accounts.

       Many subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were convicted and jailed for theft, fraud and false accounting, while others were forced to pay huge sums of “missing” money.

       Recommended UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast Lateral flow Covid tests run out on day lockdown is fully lifted Priti Patel urged to halt mass deportation to Zimbabwe over ‘deteriorating’ human rights situation

       On Monday, the convictions of Robert Ambrose, Hasmukh Shingadia, John Armstrong, Timothy Brentnall, Jerry Hosi, Gurdeep Singh Dhale, John Dickson, Abiodun Omotoso, Malcolm Watkins, Sami Sabet, Carina Price and Rizwan Manjra were all overturned by three senior judges.

       At a hearing in March, the court heard how the lives of those wrongly accused were “irreparably ruined” as the scandal cost them their jobs, homes and marriages.

       Neil Hudgell, a solicitor who represented the 12 cleared on Monday as well as the 33 cleared in April, said: “Each and every subpostmaster walked out of the Royal Courts of Justice and down the steps with their heads held high… completely exonerated and found to be entirely innocent by the courts.

       “Now we want to make sure we deliver the same outcome for every other family affected by this. The work goes on.”

       The court is also considering appeals brought by a further 18 subpostmasters and is likely to issue directions as to how their cases should progress. Hundreds are still waiting for their convictions to be overturned.