Former detectives have been drafted in to interrogate a fraud squad – dubbed the ‘untouchables’ – involved in the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters during the Horizon scandal. 

The new team led by Gary Brooks, former head of major crime at Lancashire Constabulary, will the under-fire Post Office investigate allegations that some detectives used bullying and intimidation tactics.

The former detectives and police officers have been brought in to ‘review the quality and effectiveness’ of the investigations, which eventually saw more than 900 sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015.

During the public inquiry into the Horizon scandal concerns have been raised that those investigating ‘behaved like mafia gangsters’ who were looking to collect ‘bounty with threats and lies’.

Former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses described feeling intimated by the detectives. Last week during the inquiry, chaired by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, two wrongly accused postmasters discussed the conduct of two investigators. 

Former sub-postmaster Alan Bates and his partner Suzanne Sercombe arriving at the High Court to discuss the Horizon scandal  

Stephen Bradshaw (pictured) interviewed a string of postmasters wrongly accused of stealing money under caution, berating them for telling ‘a pack of lies’

The Horizon scandal was dramatised in Mr Bates vs. The Post Office which sparked a public inquiry 

Rta Threlfall – who was charged with false accounting and theft of a shortfall of more than £35,000 at her branch – said the ‘untouchables’ had left her with ‘crippling anxiety and depression’.

Lawyer David Enright, who is representing more than 150 postmasters, told The Sunday Times, that three of his clients had already spoken to the team probing the behaviour of detectives, adding that others will be investigated soon. 

Four former detectives are reportedly interviewing postmasters and postmistresses involved.

Last week, sacked Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, claimed that 40 investigators who were involved in the Horizon scandal were still employed by he postal service. 

A source close to the Post Office, however, reportedly denied this.

Mr Staunton said that the detectives were labelled the ‘untouchables’ because of the power they wielded. He also alleged that the Post Office chief executive had given them that nickname.

One of the fraud team workers Stephen Bradshaw, however, appeared before the inquiry last month and denied the allegations.  

The British government has announced a new law that will exonerate wrongly convicted sub-postmasters caught up in the Post Office scandal

ITV’s new drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has drawn a renewed interest in the scandal, with Mr Bates being played by Toby Jones (pictured in the role)

 Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted because of faulty accounting software, with the major miscarriage of justice were put back in the spotlight thanks to the ITV drama Mr Bates. It sparked a major public inquiry. 

Earlier today Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said he ‘probably should have said sorry earlier on’ in relation to his role in the Post Office scandal.

He served as post office minister under the coalition government from 2010 to 2012 and apologised to victims of the scandal when writing in The Guardian earlier this month.

Sir Ed will give evidence alongside former Post Office boss Paula Vennells at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry when it resumes in April.

Asked why it took him so long to apologise, Sir Ed told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: ‘I probably should have said sorry earlier on, but it is a huge scandal and our hearts go out to those hundreds of subpostmasters and their families who were treated appallingly.

‘The key thing now is to make sure that those exonerations happen quickly, that they get the compensation quickly and that they get to the truth with the inquiry.’

Sir Ed previously said he was repeatedly lied to by the Post Office about the efficacy of their software.

Asked whether he should have questioned the Post Office’s version of events a bit harder, he said: ‘I was never asked a question in parliament, actually. It wasn’t raised that much with me – Mr (Alan Bates) did, and that’s why I met him.

The Post Office carried out around 700 private prosecutions against sub-postmasters using evidence from the Horizon software, despite knowing there were serious flaws in the system 

Postmasters accused of theft by Post Office celebrate outside the High Court in London after they have had their convictions overturned

‘There were a few written questions and a few letters, but it wasn’t actually until the BBC had a Panorama programme, where they found that insider in Fujitsu who blew the whistle … and the Panorama programme was aired in August 2015. 

‘I don’t know what ministers at the time knew about that.’

Ms Vennells forfeited her CBE for ‘bringing the honours system into disrepute’ following her handling of the Horizon crisis, after issuing an apology last month.

She was named on Friday in a list published on the Cabinet Office website as an individual whose honour had been revoked.

A series of other current and former politicians have been or will be questioned by the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.

These include Conservative ministers Greg Clark and Kelly Tolhurst, Liberal Democrat politician Sir Vince Cable and Labour shadow cabinet member Pat McFadden.

A Post Office spokesperson said that it is looking into the ‘specific allegations’ raised during the public inquiry.

They added: ‘We are acutely aware of the human cost of the scandal and we are doing all we can to right the wrongs of the past, as far as that is possible. 

 ‘We have rightly been criticised for past investigation practices. A team has been recruited solely to review the quality and effectiveness of a number of past investigations arising from the allegations which were made during the Inquiry, to inform current and future practices. 

‘We hope to share as much information as possible with the former Postmasters in a manner that is compliant with our data protection obligations.’