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Ex-Fujitsu engineer who helped design the faulty Horizon software appeared as an expert witness in a number of Post Office
prosecutions of Subpostmasters.
1 Gareth Jenkins: An ‘unreliable god’ at the heart of the Post Office scandal
The former Fujitsu engineer who helped design the faulty Horizon software at the centre of the Post Office scandal is under the spotlight this week.
You might not have heard of Gareth Jenkins until now but he has become a key figure during the long-running Post Office Inquiry.
He will be questioned at the inquiry over his involvement in the scandal, which saw more than 900 sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after Horizon made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.
On Tuesday Mr Jenkins will begin giving evidence over four days – the longest run of questions any witness has faced. Here’s why what he’s got to say is so important.
A former Fujitsu engineer who helped to design the Post Office Horizon system has refused to accept a High Court judge’s ruling that it was “not remotely robust”.
The faulty IT software was the subject of a number of damning High Court rulings by Mr Justice Fraser after it was used to wrongfully prosecute more than 900 sub-postmasters.
The scandal was brought to light by former sub-postmaster Sir Alan Bates, who led 554 of his colleagues to a High Court victory in 2019.
Fujitsu 4 days evidence at PO Fraud Scandal Public Inquiry
25 jun 2024
Ex-Fujitsu engineer tells Post Office inquiry Horizon was ‘ …
The Guardian
5 hours ago — The inquiry is in part examining whether the Post Office and contractors knew about the existence of bugs before deciding to go ahead with …
Post Office inquiry live: ‘I was confident Horizon bugs were …
BBC
www. bbc. co. uk › news › live
7 hours ago — The inquiry is shown a request from Post Office lawyers to Jenkins for evidence rebutting Castleton’s claims about Horizon, setting out what was …
Post Office Scandal: Horizon engineer defends IT system
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A former Fujitsu engineer who helped to design the flawed Horizon IT system has told the Post Office inquiry that it had been “working well”.
Educational: must be listened to Lee Castleton
Wrongly convicted sub-postmistress refuses to accept former Fujitsu engineer’s apology
25 jun 2024
Gareth Jenkins, former Fujitsu engineer, is facing the Post Office inquiry.
He helped design the flawed Horizon system that led to hundreds of branch bosses being wrongly prosecuted.
One of those was Seema Misra, who has refused to accept his apology.
She was given a prison sentence in 2010 after being wrongly convicted of stealing £70,000 from her branch in Surrey.
Post office scandal: Former engineer Gareth Jenkins defends Horizon system at inquiry
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25 jun 2024
A former senior engineer Gareth Jenkins who helped to build the faulty Horizon system has told the Post Office inquiry the software is “doing a good job” and is still being used today.
Gareth Jenkins was the chief architect at Fujitsu – the firm whose equipment led to wrongful convictions.
Educational
Educational
2 He was meant to be impartial in court
Mr Jenkins appeared as an expert witness in a number of Post Office prosecutions of sub-postmasters.
The law states that expert witnesses must be independent and unbiased. But the inquiry has heard evidence that lawyers never properly instructed Mr Jenkins about his duties.
Documents obtained by the BBC earlier this year showed that a Post Office prosecutor suggested Mr Jenkins should rephrase some of his court testimony used against Seema Misra, which strengthened his assertions over the robustness of Horizon.
IT expert Jason Coyne, who was once used as an expert witness in a Post Office case, believes Mr Jenkins was someone the Post Office could “manage”.
“We sometimes call people the ‘hired guns’. There’s a risk that’s what the Post Office was trying to do with him,” says Mr Coyne.
The BBC understands Mr Jenkins was involved in at least 15 Post Office investigations.
POST OFFICE SCANDAL: Fujitsu expert believes Horizon system operated robustly
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25 jun 2024
Post Office Horizon IT inquiry continues with Gareth Jenkins, former distinguished engineer at Fujitsu Services Ltd, who is due to give evidence for four days.
Mr Jenkins was asked: ‘Lastly, that those bugs, errors and defects could result in and cause discrepancies or shortfalls in the branch accounts of sub postmasters, thereby corrupting transactions, disrupting data processing and recording transactions.That was a possibility?’
Mr Jenkins said: ‘But I’m not sure that even today I understand what bugs actually did cause the problems that people have suffered from.’
Mr Beer QC then asked: ‘Do I take it that you accept his first finding that legacy Horizon was not remotely robust?’
Mr Jenkins replied: ‘I don’t accept that finding.’
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3 From ‘tainted’ witness to ‘shadow expert’
By 2012, independent forensic investigators Second Sight were brought in to examine the Horizon system.
At the time they praised Mr Jenkins’ “superb” expertise – not knowing that his evidence was being used in the courts.
However, soon after their interim report, revealing several bugs, the Post Office received legal advice warning that Mr Jenkins’ previous omissions had “fatally undermined” his credibility as an expert witness, and they should stop using him.
But Mr Jenkins remained a key figure behind the scenes.
He provided technical support and information to witnesses who testified at the 2019 Bates v Post Office trial, despite not being called to give evidence.
During the trial, lawyers representing sub-postmasters labelled him a “shadow expert” – someone who advises but does not testify in court.
The Post Office was criticised for not acknowledging that his absence might have related to its concerns over his evidence in the past criminal prosecutions.
The judge, Mr Justice Fraser, recommended that the head of the Crown Prosecution Service start an investigation into perjury against Mr Jenkins.
LIVE Post Office Inquiry questions former Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins
Geeft 23 uur geleden live gestreamd
The Post Office Inquiry returns today for the first of a four-day sitting with former Distinguished Engineer at Fujitsu Services Ltd, Gareth Jenkins.
Retired high court judge Sir Wyn Williams will continue to hears evidence over the Horizon IT scandal that has rocked the UK.
Watch today’s full Post Office Inquiry proceedings live in the video player above from around 9.45am and let us know what you think in the comments below.
In full: Architect of faulty Horizon software gives evidence | Post Office Inquiry
Live gestreamd op 25 jun 2024
A former Fujitsu engineer who helped designed the beleaguered Horizon IT system will give evidence to the Post Office Inquiry today.
Gareth Jenkins helped create the bug-ridden software that inaccurately recorded shortfalls on sub-postmaster accounts, leading to more than 900 wrongfully prosecutions.
Mr Jenkins was used by the Post Office as an expert witness in sub-postmaster prosecutions – giving evidence in-person in the 2010 trial of sub-postmistress Seema Misra, who was pregnant when she was handed a 15-month prison sentence.
However, the organisation received legal advice in 2013 that warned Mr Jenkins’s failure to disclose bugs in the Horizon software “fatally undermined” his credibility as an expert witness.
4 Four more webpages about expert engineer Gareth Jenkins
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