Former subpostmasters celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, on April 23, 2021, following a court ruling clearing subpostmasters of convictions for theft and false accounting. – Dozens of former subpostmasters, who were convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting because of the Post Office’s defective Horizon accounting system, have finally had their names cleared by the Court of Appeal. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Tolga Akmen | Afp | Getty Images
LONDON — A hit TV series has reignited public outrage over a scandal dubbed the “most widespread miscarriage of justice” in British history, which destroyed the lives of hundreds of postal workers.
A fault with computer software used by the Post Office, a state-owned private company employing thousands of people across the country, resulted in some 230 employees going to jail on false charges of theft, fraud and false accounting.
Between 1999 and 2015, 736 sub-postmasters, who are self-employed branch managers under contract to the Post Office, were subjected to prosecutions and financial misconduct convictions based on inaccurate data generated by Horizon, a software program produced by Japanese company Fujitsu.
Accused of similar offences, thousands more people were forced to pay back non-existent losses accrued due to the software failure, driving many to financial ruin, serious ill health and, in several cases, to suicide. The sub-postmasters’ contracts with the Post Office rendered them accountable for any deficits incurred by their respective branches, meaning they were forced to repay the erroneous losses out of their own pockets.
After a 20-year legal battle led by the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA), the High Court in 2019 ruled that the Horizon software was at fault for the losses, and a public inquiry was ordered by the government to take place in the following year.
Horizon was manufactured by Fujitsu in 1999 and rolled out across Post Office branches to manage financial transactions. Complaints soon emerged that it was falsely reporting cash shortfalls.
These warnings from Post Office staff were disregarded by senior leadership, which accused postmasters of financial wrongdoing and opted to launch private prosecutions against employees who tried to manually alter the data or were otherwise unable to repay the non-existent losses. In many case, these totalled tens of thousands of pounds.
Former subpostmaster at Hogsthorpe, Tom Hedges (C) holds a bottle of champagne aloft outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, on April 23, 2021, following a court ruling clearing subpostmasters of convictions for theft and false accounting. – Dozens of former subpostmasters, who were convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting because of the Post Office’s defective Horizon accounting system, have finally had their names cleared by the Court of Appeal. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Tolga Akmen | Afp | Getty Images
Thus far, only 93 convictions have been quashed, as the rest of the cases are still being assessed, while the thousands more of people who lost their homes and livelihoods or were driven into bankruptcy have yet to receive any substantial compensation.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which looks into criminal cases where people believe they have been wrongly convicted or sentenced but have lost their appeal, said that the Post Office Horizon scandal is “the most widespread miscarriage of justice” it has ever seen.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday called it “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history” and announced that the government will introduce new legislation to ensure that all those hit with criminal convictions as a result of the scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated.”
“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation,” he said.
TV show sparks renewed outcry
The new four-part ITV docu-drama “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” — documenting the multi-decade efforts of former sub-postmaster and JFSA leader Alan Bates to secure justice and the impact of the scandal on the lives of those affected — caused widespread calls for mass exonerations and compensation for victims.
Paula Vennells, who served as CEO of the Post Office between 2012 and 2019, has handed back her high-ranking CBE honours award in light of the renewed public anger over her role in the scandal.
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake on Wednesday said that the government is willing to pursue Fujitsu for compensation, if the ongoing public inquiry places blame on the Japanese IT firm.
Dozens of victims have been sharing their stories over the country’s major news outlets in recent days. Many suffered abuse in their communities and said that their children were bullied as a result of the false allegations and negative publicity at the time.
Tom Hedges, who ran a Post Office near Skegness, England, until his removal in 2009 and conviction in 2010, told the BBC on Wednesday that his and his family’s lives were “wrecked” by the allegations. His conviction was finally overturned in 2021.
“Frankly, it wrecked my life, my family’s life, and everybody I know’s life. It was the most horrendous thing I have ever been through,” he said on a special broadcast.
“I was very lucky in one way, I didn’t go bankrupt like a lot of people, and I just feel very privileged to sit here this morning and address the nation because of the wonderful TV show that ITV have produced.”
A disclosure hearing was held on Wednesday in the latest stage of the public inquiry, which is expected to extend into the middle of this year.
