17th August 2015
Part 1 – the second part, following the outcome of the trials, was due to air on March 23 2020 but was replaced by a Covid 19 programme. Will be shown later this year.
Page Description
Understand ‘The Post Office Wrongful Convictions Scandal,’
a legal case involving wrongful convictions of postal workers due to faulty software and evidence
Were there 1,000 victims of the Post Office scandal?
Officials reveal 400 more former postmasters may have been wrongfully convicted over IT system shambles
Postmasters have been wrongfully accused of theft over the past 20 years
New Post Office figures say 1,000 workers may have been wrongly convicted
Sarah Burgess-Boyde lost her job in 2009 and then suffered from depression
By Tom Witherow Business Correspondent for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:53 GMT, 24 May 2020 | updated: 22:53 GMT, 24 May 2020
Post Office has admitted.
The figure emerged as the appalling treatment of a former postmistress who developed depression after being dragged to court came to light.
The Government-owned company said an additional 400 former postmasters may have been wrongfully convicted for theft, fraud and false accounting. This is on top of the 550 convictions which were known about.
The number of postmasters wrongly accused of theft could he as high as 1,000 according to the Post Office
From 2000 onwards, hundreds of former postmasters were prosecuted after unexplained shortfalls were found in their branch accounts.
The ex-workers blamed flaws in the IT system, Horizon, but the Post Office denied there was a problem.
In case after case it bullied postmasters into pleading guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed.
Many others who were not convicted were hounded out of their jobs or forced to pay back thousands of pounds of ‘missing’ money.
The Post Office spent £32 million to deny any fault in their IT system, before capitulating.
Over the past 20 years, postmasters have been prosecuted after shortfalls were found in their branch accounts and despite pleas from the workers there were IT problems, they were forced into pleading guilty
The shocking number of new cases emerged after bosses delved through records in an attempt to improve fractured relations with postmasters.
In March, 39 cases were sent to the Court of Appeal to be overturned and a decision will be made on 22 more cases shortly.
A crowdfunding campaign is being launched today in a bid to help more victims overturn their convictions at the Court of Appeal.
Alan Bates, of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, is backing the drive to raise an initial £25,000.
He said the alliance will keep fighting until ‘each and every unsafe conviction’ has been overturned.
In another stark example of the human cost of the scandal, it emerged that a Newcastle postmistress dragged to court by the Post Office not only lost the job she loved but was also left suffering depression.
A harrowing interview, made public this week, shows how Sarah Burgess-Boyde was prosecuted despite her plea for help.
Newcastle postmistress Sarah Burgess-Boyde (pictured) was prosecuted and suspended from her job in 2009 after being accused of theft. She suffered from depression and has not worked again despite protesting her innocence
The 56-year-old was suspended in 2009 after a £40,000 shortfall appeared in her branch account.
In the interview, which will be played for the first time in a Radio 4 documentary series this week, she said: ‘I am really proud to be a subpostmaster. I love my job and I love my customers.
‘I’ve got no reason to do anything. If I lose my office I’ll be heartbroken.’
But Post Office staff refused to believe her story, even though she had made a success of her business, tripling her commission to £60,000 in just a few years.
She was threatened with prison and after a two-year ordeal ended up in court – where she was acquitted after the Post Office failed to offer any evidence.
By then she had lost all her savings and was left needing counselling for depression. She has never worked again.
Similar miscarriages of justice, with the Daily Mail leading the way in exposing the scandal as part of the Save Our Post Offices campaign, led to the Post Office capitulating in December last year and handed 550 postmasters £58 million in compensation.
But in the first tranche of payments handed out last month, former staff received as little as £500 for their years of anguish.
The Post Office has hired London law firm Peters & Peters to determine how many of the 900 cases should be overturned. It said it was ‘determined to leave no stone unturned regarding historical convictions’.
A spokesman added: ‘Following searches into the oldest cases … the review has identified around 900 cases prosecuted since the introduction of Horizon which may have relied on Horizon data.
‘The detail of the cases is being examined and the proportion involving Horizon is being determined.’
Hundreds of ‘lives ruined’ by Post Office scandal, inquiry hears
Executives said to have known IT system was faulty but still used evidence from it as basis for prosecutions
English
Dutch
English
Unjustly sacked and sent to jail:
UK postal workers get higher compensation after “post office scandal”
© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
In the UK, victims of the so-called “post office scandal” are getting greater compensation. Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 postal workers were accused of theft and fraud. They were fired and sometimes taken into custody. But this was unjustified, because it was actually a system error. The British government has now announced an additional compensation measure for the employees.
A total of 732 employees of the British Post Office were unlawfully prosecuted for theft, fraud and falsifying accounts between 2000 and 2014. The court cases and civil parties led to the conviction of many employees. Rumours of extortion and false testimony were also circulating.
Many innocent employees ended up in prison, lost their friends and partners or ended their lives. In reality, it turned out to be a system error. The case was not undeservedly dubbed the “post office scandal”.
An error in the system
The false accusations were caused by a fault in the operating system that cost more than 1 billion euros. That system was supposed to automate payments, but an error made it look as if employees were embezzling money. A few weeks after the introduction of the new system, employees reported the system errors via the “help line” they were supposed to use. However, the reports were dismissed as fabrications by the head office. Although many employees made similar reports, no further attention was paid to them.
In 2000, 6 employees were prosecuted for the shortage of money, in 2001 41, in 2002 even 64, … Meanwhile, there were 12,000 communication breakdowns per year and software errors in 76 post offices. In total, 732 employees were prosecuted on suspicion of fraud, theft or forgery.
Wrongful dismissal or imprisonment
The consequences of the more than 700 lawsuits and civil proceedings were enormous. Employees lost their jobs, their homes, their families and sometimes even their freedom. Some 555 former employees jointly initiated proceedings against the British headquarters. At the end of 2019, the British court ruled that the computer system for payments was full of software errors. The victims received compensation.
More than 50 million euros was promised to the victims. In reality, they only received 12 million euros, the rest of the money went to the lawyers. But the British Government now wants to change that. According to Prime Minister Johnson, the entire group of employees will now be properly compensated “even though it cannot take away the fears of many years”.
Hundreds of millions
For the British postal company, the bill could be high. More than 2,500 former postal workers are eligible for compensation. It will soon amount to hundreds of millions of euros. Employees who were acquitted in the past are also entitled to compensation. They are already receiving more than 100,000 euros pending a final judgment.
Dutch
Onterecht ontslagen en naar de gevangenis:
Britse postmedewerkers krijgen hogere compensatie na “postkantoorschandaal”
© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Lukas Lecluyse
di 22 mrt 18:31
In het Verenigd Koninkrijk krijgen de slachtoffers van het zogenoemde “postkantoorschandaal” een grotere compensatie. Tussen 2000 en 2014 werden meer dan 700 postmedewerkers beschuldigd van diefstal en fraude. Ze werden ontslagen en soms in hechtenis genomen. Maar dat was onterecht, want het ging eigenlijk om een systeemfout. De Britse regering heeft nu een extra compensatiemaatregel aangekondigd voor de medewerkers.
In totaal werden 732 medewerkers van het British Post Office (de Britse post) tussen 2000 en 2014 onrechtmatig vervolgd voor diefstal, fraude en het vervalsen van de boekhouding. De rechtszaken en burgerlijke partijen leidden tot de veroordeling van heel wat medewerkers. Vaak deden ook geruchten van afpersing en valse getuigenissen de ronde.
Veel onschuldige medewerkers belandden in de gevangenis, verloren hun vrienden en partners of maakten een einde aan hun leven. In werkelijkheid bleek het te gaan om een systeemfout. De zaak kreeg dus niet onterecht de naam “postkantoorschandaal”.
Een foutje in het systeem
Aan de oorzaak van de valse beschuldigingen lag een fout in het besturingssysteem dat ruim 1 miljard euro kostte. Dat systeem moest betalingen automatiseren, maar door een fout leek het alsof medewerkers geld verduisterden. Enkele weken na de invoering van het nieuwe systeem, meldden medewerkers de systeemfouten via de “hulplijn” die ze moesten gebruiken. De meldingen werden door het hoofdkantoor echter afgedaan als verzinsels. Hoewel veel medewerkers gelijkaardige meldingen deden, werd er verder geen aandacht meer aan besteed.
In 2000 werden 6 medewerkers vervolgd voor de geldtekorten, in 2001 waren dat er 41, in 2002 zelfs 64, … Dat terwijl er ondertussen 12.000 communicatiestoringen werden vastgesteld per jaar en in 76 postkantoren softwarefouten waren. In totaal werden 732 medewerkers vervolgd op verdenking van fraude, diefstal of vervalsing.
Onterecht ontslagen of opgesloten
De gevolgen van de ruim 700 rechtszaken en civiele procedures waren gigantisch. Medewerkers verloren hun baan, hun huis, hun familie en soms zelfs hun vrijheid. Zo’n 555 oud-medewerkers startten gezamenlijk een procedure tegen het Britse hoofdkantoor. Het Britse gerechtshof oordeelde eind 2019 dat het computersysteem voor betalingen vol softwarefouten zat. De slachtoffers ontvingen een schadevergoeding.
Er werd ruim 50 miljoen euro aan de slachtoffers toegezegd. In realiteit kregen ze slechts 12 miljoen euro, de rest van het geld ging naar de juristen. Maar daar wil de Britse regering nu verandering in brengen. Volgens premier Johnson zal nu de volledige groep medewerkers correct worden vergoed “ook al kan dat de jarenlange angst niet wegnemen”.
Honderden miljoenen
Voor het Britse postbedrijf kan de rekening hoog oplopen. Ruim 2.500 voormalige postwerknemers komen in aanmerking voor de compensatie. Al snel gaat het om honderden miljoenen euro. Werknemers die in het verleden werden vrijgesproken, maken ook aanspraak op de vergoeding. Zij krijgen nu al meer dan 100.000 euro in afwachting van een definitieve uitspraak.
The High Court ruling declared that the Post Office’s computer system, called Horizon,
was defective and had caused accounting discrepancies
and false accusations of fraud against sub-postmasters.
The court also found that the Post Office had failed
to investigate these issues properly, and
had unfairly blamed the sub-postmasters for the errors.
The UK’s “Post Office Scandal” – Jo Hamilton
18 okt 2023
For the past twenty years, the UK has been grappling with the aftermath of the notorious “Post Office scandal,” which has affected countless innocent individuals. In 2000, the Horizon IT system was introduced to modernise the Post Office network, but its rollout led to a barrage of wrongful convictions for fraud, theft, and false accounting. Despite technological advancements in digital payments and optimised accounting, the system frequently flagged accounting discrepancies due to bugs and errors, resulting in harsh punitive measures taken against subpostmasters and staff. Consequently, thousands of innocent people lost their jobs, homes, and freedom.
The Post Office and its lawyers attempted to cover up the scandal by withholding crucial information about Horizon in court cases, leaving many of the victims without justice or compensation.
Timecodes
00:00 – Intro
02:27 – Life before the post office scandal
06:04 – When did you take over the post office
06:33 – What was Horizon designed to do
07:16 – What were you accused of
09:57 – How did you end up owing £36,000
15:29 – How did you cover the deficit
17:52 – Why didn’t she tell her family
19:09 – The hidden truth
20:08 – Facing criminal proceedings
24:06 – Getting prosecuted
27:12 – Pleading guilty of false accounting
29:41 – Multiple victims & village support
33:35 – Creating a victims group
36:53 – Life after being prosecuted
40:27 – Finding out that Horizon was the issue
43:04 – How was your conviction overturned
47:09 – Other people being convicted
50:52 – Dealing with being wrongfully accused
53:50 – Do you accuse anybody
57:15 – Outro
2 Panorama : Scandal at the Post Office BBC Documentary 2020
12 jun. 2020
Janet Skinner
Offence: False accounting
Jurisdiction: England & Wales
County: Surrey
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Years in prison: .5
Offence convicted of: False Accounting
Year of crime: 2006
Year of initial conviction: 2007
Year conviction was overturned: 2021
This approach by the Post Office has amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred…
“It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.”
Deze benadering door het postkantoor komt in feite neer op kale beweringen en ontkenningen die negeren wat er daadwerkelijk is gebeurd. Het komt neer op het 21e-eeuwse equivalent van beweren dat de aarde plat is.
At minute 11:45 Paula Vennells
At minute 24 They couldn’t be mistaken
At minute 27 A government own organisation attacked the integrity of individuals
More than 700 branch managers were falsely accused by the Post Office due to faulty accounting software.
Janet Skinner, from Hull, whose conviction was among 86 that were later overturned, said she was “infuriated” and would reject the deal.
The Post Office minister had said the sum was offered with “no ifs or buts”.
Between 2000 and 2014, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses based on “flawed” information from a computer system called Horizon.
Described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, dozens of convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in April 2021, subsequently paving the way for others to be overturned.
Ms Skinner, 52, was handed a nine-month sentence in 2007 over an alleged shortfall of £59,000 from her Post Office branch in Bransholme, Hull.
She served three months in prison before being released with an electronic tag, but eventually had her conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in April 2021.
The stress of the case had meant she ended up in hospital for four months after she became paralysed and had to learn to walk again, she said.
Ms Skinner continues to pursue legal action over her case.
The Post Office wrongful convictions scandal is a case in which the UK Post Office wrongly accused and convicted numerous sub-postmasters of theft, fraud, and false accounting. Here are some of the key points of the scandal:
The Post Office accused sub-postmasters of theft and fraud based on discrepancies in their accounts, which were often caused by software errors in the Post Office’s computer system.
Sub-postmasters who were accused and convicted of theft and fraud were often forced to pay back the allegedly missing funds, leading to financial ruin for many of them.
The Post Office pursued legal action against sub-postmasters even when it knew that the discrepancies were caused by software errors.
Many of the sub-postmasters who were wrongfully convicted lost their jobs and were unable to find work in the industry again due to their criminal records.
The scandal was exposed in 2019 when a group of sub-postmasters won a High Court case against the Post Office, which ruled that the computer system was flawed and that the Post Office had acted unfairly.
As a result of the scandal, the Post Office agreed to pay £57.75 million in compensation to more than 2,000 sub-postmasters who were affected by the wrongful convictions.
The scandal has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, and has led to calls for greater accountability and transparency in the Post Office’s operations.
About the book
On 23rd April 2021, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 39 former Subpostmasters and ruled their prosecutions were an affront to the public conscience. It is a scandal that has been described as one of the most widespread and significant miscarriages of justice in UK legal history.
The 39 were just a few of the 738 people who, between 2000 and 2015, had been prosecuted by the Post Office for theft, false accounting and fraud. The prosecutions were based largely on evidence drawn from Horizon, the Post Office’s deeply flawed software system that threw up duplicate entries, lost transactions and made erroneous calculations. If these errors resulted in apparent losses, Subpostmasters were forced to settle the discrepancies from their own pockets, sometimes for tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds. Those who could not pay were sacked and taken to court. Proud pillars of their communities were stripped of their jobs and livelihoods. Many were forced into bankruptcy and or borrowed from friends and family to give the Post Office thousands they did not owe. The really unlucky ones were sent to prison.
This is the story of how these innocent people fought back to clear their names against a background of institutional arrogance and obfuscation, a fight dragged out by the Post Office’s refusal to accept responsibility for its failings.
Nick Wallis, an award-winning freelance journalist and broadcaster, has been pursuing this story since 2010 when he met a taxi driver who told him his pregnant wife had been sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Since then, he has recorded interviews with dozens of victims, insiders and experts, uncovering hundreds of documents to build up an unparalleled understanding of the story.
Using these sources, Nick has been instrumental in bringing the scandal into the public eye. He broadcast his first investigation for the BBC in 2011. In the same year that he took the story to Private Eye. He has subsequently made two Panoramas, a Radio 4 series, and raised thousands of pounds to crowdfund his own court reporting for the Post Office Trial website.
Nick has now written the first definitive account of the scandal. He takes us from the ill-fated deal that brought Horizon into existence, through years of half-truths and obstruction, to the tearful scenes at the Court of Appeal this year. He exposes the secrecy and mistrust at the heart of the story, and the impact that had on the victims. He also chronicles how this story’s hero, Alan Bates, started as a lone public voice of dissent but went on to beat the Post Office – against overwhelming odds – at two of the highest courts in the land and win some redress for the victims.
This is the story of how these innocent people fought back to clear their names against a background of institutional arrogance and obfuscation, a fight dragged out by the Post Office’s refusal to accept responsibility for its failings.
Nick Wallis, an award-winning freelance journalist and broadcaster, has been pursuing this story since 2010 when he met a taxi driver who told him his pregnant wife had been sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Since then, he has recorded interviews with dozens of victims, insiders and experts, uncovering hundreds of documents to build up an unparalleled understanding of the story.
Using these sources, Nick has been instrumental in bringing the scandal into the public eye. He broadcast his first investigation for the BBC in 2011. In the same year that he took the story to Private Eye. He has subsequently made two Panoramas, a Radio 4 series, and raised thousands of pounds to crowdfund his own court reporting for the Post Office Trial website.
Nick has now written the first definitive account of the scandal. He takes us from the ill-fated deal that brought Horizon into existence, through years of half-truths and obstruction, to the tearful scenes at the Court of Appeal this year. He exposes the secrecy and mistrust at the heart of the story, and the impact that had on the victims. He also chronicles how this story’s hero, Alan Bates, started as a lone public voice of dissent but went on to beat the Post Office – against overwhelming odds – at two of the highest courts in the land and win some redress for the victims.
4 *The Great Post Office Scandal and Cover up part 2.
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT Listening recommended Must ***
6 Post Office Scandal || The Truman Show || SpeakEasy 21 Feb 2022
21 feb. 2022
8 Post Office scandal: Man wrongly convicted of stealing died before court cleared his name | ITV News
9 Post office scandal: Varchas Patel joins Gloria De Piero to discuss how his family were impacted
10 Post Office Scandal: 44 postmaster convictions set to be quashed 20 years later | 5 News
2 okt. 2020
► Dozens of former sub-postmasters and postmistresses should get a clear path to have their convictions for false accounting, fraud and theft quashed.
47 postmasters were convicted 20 years ago of theft after a faulty IT system was installed, resulting in many being sacked and some imprisoned.
11 The Post Office Scandal
13 Post Office scandal: Why were postmasters prosecuted?
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT Listening recommended Must ***
14 Former postmasters cleared after Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice
15 Justice for Sub-postmasters in the Post Office case
10 jun. 2021
Our Panel comprises the following speakers::
– Paul Marshall, Cornerstone Barristers
– Flora Page, 23 Essex Chambers
– Nick Gould, Aria Grace Law
– Dineshi Ramesh, Board Intelligence
– Anthony Edwards, retired solicitor
– Jonathan Rogers, University of Cambridge
– Richard Moorhead, University of Exeter
– Alan Brener, Centre for Ethics and Law, UCL
– Ian Henderson, Second Sight
16 Wrongly jailed at 19 years old in Post Office scandal | Janet Skinner & Tracy Felstead
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15 feb. 2022
We are the UK’s newest digital news radio station, bringing together the peerless journalistic expertise of The Times and The Sunday Times with the world-class speech radio and podcasting experience of Wireless.
Royal mail!! We’ve had post, including parcels, go missing for over two years now. Abolish them 
17 EXPLAINED: The Post Office Wrongful Convictions Scandal | Nick Wallis
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14 feb. 2022
Speaking to Carole Walker ahead of the inquiry, journalist and author Nick Wallis explains the Post Office scandal, where hundreds of former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly accused of stealing.
Their convictions were later overturned after it was discovered that a computer error was the cause of accounting shortfalls.
Nick Wallis said: ” And the government has been forced to set aside a billion pounds in compensation to those who a. were prosecuted and have now had their convictions quashed and b. who were forced to pay back money with menaces, and that number runs into the thousands.”
His book ‘The Great Post Office Scandal’ details the impact of the errors on the Post Office workers falsely accused.
He said: “This happened on an industrial scale.
“700 people falsely prosecuted, thousands more forced to pay back money that they never owed in the first place, creating broken lives, broken families and mental health problems that will continue to reverberate for many, many years to come.”
Listen to Nick Wallis speaking with Carole Walker on Times Radio.
EXPLAINED: The Post Office Wrongful Convictions Scandal | Nick Wallis – Blog
18 Post Office scandal victim on being wrongly imprisoned: I could’ve killed myself
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT Listening recommended Must ***
19 The Post Office Scandal: How not to Manage Software: James Christie
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21 Falling Foul of the Disclosure Rules: The Post Office: Chris Daw QC
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22 Autonomy Denied: The Pressure To Plead Guilty: Rebecca Helm
21 jan. 2022
23 The Post Office Scandal: The Naive Faith in Computers: Steven Murdoch
10 dec. 2021
The courts have a naive faith in computer evidence, based in ignorance. Since the repeal of the section of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act which required certification that computer systems were functioning correctly, a presumption has been adopted by the courts of England and Wales that they simply do, without the need for any certification to confirm it and is therefore admissible as evidence.
This presumption formed the basis for the criminal prosecutions and civil actions against subpostmasters who were consequently put in the position of having to prove their innocence with no need by the Post Office to prove that Horizon, full of bugs as it was, was functioning properly.
This resulted in the hundreds of miscarriages of justice caused to subpostmasters and the ruin of many lives
Steven Murdoch is Professor of Security Engineering and Royal Society Research Fellow at University College London. He is Innovation Security Architect at OneSpan. He explains how wrong this presumption is, how ignorant the courts and lawyers are and how laughable IT specialists consider this presumption to be.
24 Demanding Justice: The Post Office Scandal
In première gegaan op 18 mrt. 2022
Sky’s Ivor Bennett speaks to some of those who went through the terrible ordeal.
25 Post Office Horizon Scandal – Computerphile
26 Horizon scandal: Falsely accused sub-postmaster went through ’20 years of hell’ | ITV News
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT
27 Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Human Impact – Day 8 AM Live Stream (23 February 2022)
28 Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Human Impact – Day 9 PM Live Stream (24 February 2022)
29 Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Human Impact Focus Group Day 2 AM Live Stream (11 March 2022)
30 Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Human Impact – Day 10 AM Live Stream (25 February 2022)
31 Public inquiry into Post Office scandal starts
32 Post Office Horizon scandal: ‘It’s broken people’s lives’ | Andrew Bridgen MP
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33 – 39 former subpostmasters are cleared after Post Office wrongly accused them of theft and fraud
23 apr. 2021
Former subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted because of the Post Office’s defective Horizon accounting system have called for a public inquiry into the scandal which “destroyed” people’s lives.
On Friday, 39 former subpostmasters who were convicted and even jailed for theft, fraud and false accounting finally had their names cleared by the Court of Appeal.
Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Picken and Mrs Justice Farbey, said the Post Office “knew there were serious issues about the reliability of Horizon” and had a “clear duty to investigate” the system’s defects.
But the Post Office “consistently asserted that Horizon was robust and reliable”, and “effectively steamrolled over any subpostmaster who sought to challenge its accuracy”, the judge added.
The Court of Appeal also allowed 39 of the appeals on the grounds that the prosecutions were an affront to the public conscience.
Lord Justice Holroyde said: “Post Office Limited’s failures of investigation and disclosure were so egregious as to make the prosecution of any of the ‘Horizon cases’ an affront to the conscience of the court.”
Lawyers representing the former subpostmasters said evidence of serious defects in the Horizon system was “concealed from the courts, prosecutors and defence”, in order to protect the Post Office “at all costs”.
Continue reading:
Post Office scandal: 39 Postmasters whose lives were ‘ruined’ over faulty IT theft-claims sob as convictions overturned
35 Post Office – Inside Out South, BBC 1 – First transmitted 7 Feb 2011
36 Public inquiry into sub-postmasters convicted of theft and fraud opens | 5 News
37 Post Office scandal ‘ruined lives’, inquiry hears
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38 Wrongly convicted Post Office workers say those responsible should face jail
39 Parliamentary debate on treatment of convicted Post Office workers
6 mrt. 2020
The jailing of two former post office workers from Shropshire has been branded ‘a grotesque miscarriage of justice’ in a parliamentary debate. Lucy Allan, MP for Telford, held a debate in Parliament to discuss the case of 56 former post office employees, including Tracy Felstead from Telford and Rubbina Shaheen from Worthen, near Shrewsbury, who are seeking to have their convictions quashed after a judge criticised the evidence against them.
Read more on this story here: https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/p…
40 The Post Office Scandal: Corruption – How the Magic is Done: Paul Pascoe
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT Listening recommended Must
8 okt 2021
How does business corruption and fraud get covered up? How do fraudsters avoid detection and hinder and obstruct investigation and resolution? Paul discusses the Post Office Scandal as these familiar tactics play out.
Paul Pascoe is a solicitor, turned businessman/investor.
He was a victim of what Lloyd’s Bank chooses to call ‘the HBOS/Reading fraud’, although Lloyd’s Bank itself is deeply involved and is the owner of HBOS.
He was a business partner with Noel Edmonds and their businesses lost millions as a result of the fraud.
Since then Paul has taken a great interest in financial scandals generally and in particular the Post Office Scandal.
41 The Post Office Wrongful Convictions Scandal
Live gestreamd op 12 mei 2023
Tonight on our Live Stream we’re talking not only to two of the cast from The Outcast Creative, and their roles in False Accounts – Exposing the Post Office Cover-Up. Along with two of the cast Ali Zhadi (Postmaster 5) and Dave Binder (Auditor 2) also talking to one of those directly impacted by the scandal and someone who tried to help him at the time.
Our Guests include:
FORMER SUBPOSTMASTER MARK KELLY – Mark Kelly from Swansea spoke of his experience at the Post Office inquiry on Tuesday, March 1, in Cardiff. Mr Kelly ran the Brondeg Post Office from 2003 to 2006. Problems within the Post Office’s computer system Horizon meant it looked like money was missing from branches,- in some cases tens of thousands of pounds was said to be lost.During the inquiry, Mr Kelly said that he had felt suicidal following the IT scandal. The sub-postmaster and his wife, Olga, lost their home where they had hoped to start a family. He now suffers from PTSD, his marriage collapsed and he’s been suicidal.
FORMER SECRETARY – COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS UNION MARK BAKER
Joined the Post Office Corporation (as it was known in those days) in 1978 as a Postman. Based in Worthing W Sussex. Moved to the Counter side of the company (now known as PO Ltd) in 1979. Transferred to the Portsmouth Head Office as part of a reorganisation. In 1988 further reorganisation loomed so I resigned from the Post Office and with my wife purchased our Sub Post Office Branch in Larkhill Wiltshire. The closest Post Office Branch to Stonehenge.
Still running this Branch but I am due to retire on the 29th July 2023 and my PO Branch will close for good. I have been a member of the CWU (Communications Workers Union ) for most of my PO service apart from a 15 year period when I was a member of the NFSP. I became an Executive Officer within the NFSP (National Federation of Sub Postmasters) for 12 years, left the NFSP (in disgust) in 2009. I was until recently the National Branch Secretary of the Postmasters Branch in the CWU which I helped set up when I left the NFSP.
FALSE ACCOUNTS – The smash hit satirical drama/comedy about the biggest miscarriage of justice in British History is back in London
OSO Arts Centre, Barnes – 31st May – 4th June
https://osoarts.ticketsolve.com/ticke…
SYNOPSIS FOR THE SHOW –
In 1999 Horizon, a new computer system was installed in Post Offices nationwide. There was only one problem, it was prone to bugs and the designers were aware of this. Soon hundreds of Postmasters across the UK were experiencing mysterious shortfalls of thousands of pounds that they were liable for. From award winning playwright Lance Nielsen, The Outcasts Creative shines a satirical light on what would soon become the biggest miscarriage of justice in British History.
The issue escalated with hundreds facing financial bankruptcy as they struggled to remedy the situation out of their own pocket, all while the Post Office did nothing to rectify the problem. In fact, they had an aggressive policy of prosecuting Postmasters, securing criminal convictions, and using the courts to strip them of all their financial assets. Even when those in charge knew these convictions were unsafe, they still let innocent people go to prison.
“Thought provoking and moving… heartbreakingly real” – Bum on a Seat
‘We sat there, completely engaged. A very powerful play!’ – Former Subpostmaster Wendy Buffrey
‘Excellent acting, heartbreaking in places, funny in others – they did us proud!’ – Former Subpostmaster Tracy Felstead
‘Just brilliant. I laughed, cried, the writer has done a genius job of creating a play out of such a diabolical situation’ – Former Subpostmaster Nikki Arch
“Essential viewing for anyone with a professional interest in this subject or indeed anyone who wants to learn more about this appalling scandal.”- Ian Henderson, Second Sight
“Summing up: intimate, emotional, clever, respectful, memorable, funny, gut-wrenching, astonishing, honest, raw and proud all at the same time.” – Former Subpostmaster JK
For the first time on the British stage, this dark satire is the 14th play from award-winning playwright Lance Steen Anthony Nielsen. He shines a light on this tragic story, giving a voice to those impacted and highlighting where the responsibility lies in one of the most shameful travesties of injustice in our country’s history.
Your Host – Lance Steen Anthony Nielsen is a four time award winning playwright, author, acting coach and film director. Throughout his career he’s worked with some of the best British actors in the industry including Jason Flemyng, Danny Webb, Duncan Pow, Lindsey Coulson, Paul Copley, Alicia Eyo, Wil Johnson, Craig Fairbrass and has numerous other actors attached to projects in development including Phil Davis, Donal Logue and Sharon Duncan Brewster
He co-founded The Outcasts Creative, an actors workshop, with actor and coach Dickon Tolson.
42 Mr Bates vs The Post Office | Coming soon to ITV1 and ITVX | ITV
43 Toby Jones, Monica Dolan and more on playing real people in Mr Bates vs The Post Office | BAFTA
1 jan 2024 #BAFTA
We sat down with the cast and creatives behind ITV’s upcoming drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office to chat about bringing the extraordinary stories of everyday people to screen and the emotion behind one of the biggest scandals in recent history.
Featuring Toby Jones, Monica Dolan, Will Mellor, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Lia Williams, Krupa Pattani, Katherine Kelly, director James Strong and writer Gwyneth Hughes.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Joining the project
04:24 Meeting the real life people
10:38 Challenges and highlights
14:23 Audience takeaway
44 Post Office scandal: Sub-postmistress ‘had no tears left’
8 jan 2024
Sky’s Sophy Ridge talks to Janet Skinner from Hull, who was given a nine month sentence in 2007 over an alleged shortfall of £59,000 from her Post Office branch.
Janet served three months in prison before being released with an electronic tag, and said that while in prison she cried so much “she had no tears left to cry.”
45 Post Office scandal: Sub-postmistress ‘had no tears left’
Post Office scandal: Sub-postmistress ‘had no tears left’
46 Post Office Scandal: Former Sub-Postmaster Jess Kaur Shares Her Story | Good Morning Britain
Back to menu IMPORTENT CONTENT Listening recommended Must
8 jan 2024
Following the ITV Drama ‘Mr Bates VS The Post Office’ aired last week, new information about the Post Office Horizon Scandal has been revealed, including an experimental pilot scheme that took place four years before the full software rollout in 1999. We’re joined by Labour MP Kevin Jones, who was a member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board. GMB also speaks with Former Sub-Postmistress, Jess Kaur, who tried to commit suicide after being charged with fraud. She reveals the emotional stress endured by herself and her family by the Post Office.
Broadcast on 08/01/24
47 The Real Mr and Mrs Bates: Their Truth Behind Taking on The Post Office | This Morning
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8 jan 2024
19.615 weergaven • 8 jan 2024 • #ThisMorning
‘Mr Bates Vs The Post Office’ has shocked audiences, and shone a light on the misjustice of the Horizon scandal – but now the ITV drama is making a real impact. The series has prompted at least 50 new potential victims to come forward, and over the weekend the Metropolitan Police confirmed they are investigating the Post Office for potential fraud offences. As the Prime Minister calls for justice, we’re joined by the man who made all of this possible – the real-life Mr Bates and his partner Suzanne. They’ll be sharing their thoughts on the dramatisation, and telling us why more needs to be done to right the wrongs of the past.
48 The Real-Life Mr Bates On Why His Fight For Justice Is Far From Over | Lorraine
3 jan 2024
49 Toby Jones: How Do They Sleep At Night? 📮
Back to menu IMPORTENT CONTENT Listening recommended Must
3 mei 2016
17 dec 2023
50 Post Office scandal: ‘PRESSURE mounts on politicians’ to be accountable | ‘People took their lives’
51 “It’s Not JUST Her” One Million People Sign Petition To Strip Ex-Post Office Boss Of CBE
Back to menu IMPORTENT CONTENT Listening recommended Must
8 jan 2024
A petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to lose her CBE over the Horizon scandal has attracted more than one million signatures.
Demands for the Honours Forfeiture Committee to remove her CBE have emerged again after ITV aired a new drama into the scandal, which has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.
Ms Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system.
The petition, which is addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the Forfeiture Committee, says: “Evidence has been produced that the Post Office engaged in a mass cover up which led to the wrongful prosecution of 550 Post Office Staff many of whom were subsequently jailed, bankrupted and in some cases, sadly took their own lives.
“Having been handed a CBE for services to the Post Office, and moved out into other senior positions in government and healthcare, it is only right that this award is now withdrawn through the process of forfeiture.”
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed a report that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is considering ways of helping to clear the names of convicted subpostmasters caught up in the scandal.
52 Post Office scandal: PM “strongly supports” withdrawing CBE from ex-Post Office boss
8 jan 2024
“We are on it” Rishi Sunak declared today as he sought to reassure sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted of defrauding the Post Office in the Horizon scandal that he would speed up the process of quashing their convictions and making sure they get full compensation.
53 Post Office Scandal: Former Postal Affairs minister ‘hopes’ Vennells will give back her CBE
8 jan 2024
“Postmasters don’t need warm words from me or any other politician. They want people just to act.”
Paula Vennells shouldn’t “be rewarded for failure” says former Postal Affairs minister Paul Scully, adding he hopes she gives back her CBE, on #timesradio
54 “Asleep On Duty?” Why Didn’t The Government Notice Post Office Prosecutions? | Good Morning Britain
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9 jan 2024
In the wake of the Post Office scandal dominating headlines following the ITV drama ‘Mr Bates VS The Post Office’, we question with Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride about what the government’s current plans are to make amends and compensate victims, and why the government weren’t aware of the scandal and false post office prosecutions sooner?
Broadcast on 09/01/24
At minute 4:
What is the culpability of Fujitsu, the company responsible for this particular system? Once conclusions are drawn regarding that, it will be up to government ministers to decide who should bear the responsibility. However, I don’t believe there is any working assumption at the moment that it will simply be the taxpayer. I must emphasize the need for swift and expedited action on this sensitive matter, as discussions are already underway.
Your government has been in place since 2010, and this miscarriage of justice persisted until 2015. At what point did a minister examine these convictions? It’s crucial to highlight that the government is the sole shareholder in the Post Office and effectively runs its operations. As you are responsible for it, hundreds of innocent people were prosecuted. In the words of David Davis, your colleague, a single lie led to these grave consequences. How is it that the government failed to notice or take action while you were seemingly asleep on duty?”
55 Jeremy Kyle Challenges Labour MP Over Keir Starmer’s Role In Post Office Scandal
9 jan 2024
Jeremy Kyle has challenged Labour MP and Shadow Education Minister Catherine McKinnell over Keir Starmer’s role in the Post Office scandal.
The Labour leader was the Director of Public Prosecutions at the time when sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.
There has been fresh public backlash to the scandal after ITV aired a drama starring actor Toby Jones last week about the scandal.
56 “Can’t Believe This Is True” | Will Mellor Shares His Experience Of Playing Horizon Scandal Victim
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8 jan 2024
The wrongful convictions of hundreds of subpostmasters due to faulty digital accounting software have been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.
The scandal has recently come back into the spotlight following ITV’s four-part drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Actor Will Mellor tells Ian Collins what his reaction was when he first read the script.
“I started reading it and just kept putting it down and going, I can’t believe this is true.”
57 Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry examines ‘action against sub-postmasters’ | Tuesday, December 19
Live gestreamd op 19 dec 2023
Watch live as we bring you the latest on the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Phase 4 of the inquiry is examining ‘Action against sub-postmasters and others: policymaking, audits and investigations, civil and criminal proceedings, knowledge of and responsibility for failures in investigation and disclosure’.
The inquiry will hear from criminal prosecutions expert witness Duncan Atkinson KC.
Earlier this year, the government announced a new fixed sum payment of £600,000 for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal in an effort to provide quicker compensation.
58 Jeremy Kyle Investigates The Post Office Scandal | 31-Aug-23
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59 J“It Took An ITV Drama!” Julia Hartley-Brewer BLASTS Lack Of Action Over Post Office Scandal
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9 jan 2024
TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer has questioned why government ministers only seemed to act over the Post Office scandal after an ITV drama.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.
There has been fresh public backlash to the scandal after ITV aired a drama starring actor Toby Jones last week about the scandal.
Ministers are drawing up plans to hasten the clearing of names of the hundreds who were wrongfully convicted.
Julia says: “People’s lives ruined, four people committed suicide as a result of this, people’s reputations, finances and marriages ruined.”
60 Why Sub-postmasters still haven’t been exonerated | Post Office Scandal
3 mei 2016
7 jan 2024
Sub-postmasters still face huge legal battles to overturn convictions over the tech glitch that saw many imprisoned or fined, Philippa Dempster, managing partner at Freeths who represented many Sub-postmasters tells 61 Former Post Office boss hands back CBE as government considers overturning convictions
9 jan 2024
The former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has handed back her CBE, saying she’s truly sorry for the devastation caused to the victims of the Horizon scandal.
Meanwhile the Government says it’s urgently working on a way to clear the names of hundreds of former subpostmasters and postmistresses who were wrongly convicted – and speeding up their compensation.
62 Former Post Office boss hands back CBE as mass exonerations considered | ITV News
9 jan 2024
Ministers are considering legislation that would exonerate all sub-postmasters and mistresses wrongly convicted based on false evidence provided by the Post Office’s Horizon accounting software.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk told MPs the idea is receiving “active consideration” after Nadhim Zahawi asked him to “bring in a simple bill to quash” all wrongful convictions “immediately”.
The Post Office scandal saw more than 700 sub-postmasters convicted of fraud and theft after the Horizon system said there was money missing from accounts, leading to accusations that staff were stealing.
Mr Zahawi, when addressing Mr Chalk, told the Commons those wrongly convicted could not claim compensation until their convictions are quashed.
63 The most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history explained | Post Office Horizon IT scandal
9 jan 2024
The Times reporter, Tom Witherow, has everything you need to know.
64 Mr Bates Vs The Post Office: The Real-Life Victims Open Up On Their Story | This Morning
2 jan 2024
Last night, ITVX and ITV1 began to tell the true story of the post office staff who found themselves accused of stealing thousands of pounds from post office branches. They were the unfortunate victims of a faulty IT system – developed to make their lives easier – but which actually left innocent people with criminal convictions and time in prison. The Producers of ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ turned to those caught up in the scandal to help make the show – and spoke to Janet Skinner and Tracy Felstead who join us today. Both women were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, their lives have been irreparably damaged by the scandal.
Broadcast on 02/01/2024
65 Mr Bates Vs the Post Office: Star Monica Dolan & the Real-Life Jo Hamilton Tell All | This Morning
9 jan 2024
It’s the scandal still dominating the headlines after the new ITV Drama ‘Mr. Bates vs the Post Office’ has shone a light on the terrible miscarriage of justice in which dozens of innocent sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted and lost everything. Today, we’re joined by one of the real people whose shocking story was told in the drama – Jo Hamilton, alongside the star who played her Monica Dolan. Broadcast on 09/01/2024
66 Criminal charges in the Post Office scandal? Feat. Marina Purkiss & Wilfred | Jeremy Vine
8 jan 2024 #PostOffice #ITV #JeremyVine
It’s been announced that criminal charges are being brought in the historic Post Office case featured in a drama by ITV.
But why does it take a television show for this to happen and is the current compensation adequate given the damage it did to the employees?
Jeremy Vine on 5 is on television every weekday at 9:15am until 1:30pm on Channel 5.
67 “I’m Calling For Sir Ed Davey To RESIGN” Fresh Scrutiny For Lib Dem Leader Over Post Office Scandal
8 jan 2024
Victims of the Post Office scandal joined MPs in saying Sir Ed Davey had “serious questions to answer” and should consider his position over his role in the fiasco.
The Liberal Democrat leader faced new allegations yesterday that he “fobbed off” victims of one of Britain’s worst miscarriages of justice when he was postal affairs minister between 2010 and 2012.
Davey was told of concerns about the faulty Horizon software which eventually led to hundreds of postmasters being prosecuted over allegations of fraud, theft and false accounting. Many were bankrupted or jailed and at least four people took their own lives.
TalkTV’s Kevin O’Sullivan gives his verdict on the Horizon scandal, which saw postmasters wrongfully convicted.
68 Ed Davey must resign over the Post Office scandal | How to Win an Election
“I think he could do something much more useful than being leader of the Liberal Democrats.”
Danny Finkelstein calls on Ed Davey to resign as leader of the Lib Dems over the Post Office scandal.
69 Post Office scandal: ‘I don’t have any faith in the judiciary system’ | Quentin Letts
9 jan 2024
“What happened to the presumption of innocent until proven guilty?”
“I’m not sure I have any faith in the judiciary”, says Quentin Letts after thousands of Post Office branch managers were wrongly accused of theft and fraud in the Horizon scandal.
70 Why Sub-postmasters still haven’t been exonerated | Post Office Scandal
Sub-postmasters still face huge legal battles to overturn convictions over the tech glitch that saw many imprisoned or fined, Philippa Dempster, managing partner at Freeths who represented many Sub-postmasters tells
71 Son Of Wrongfully Convicted Postmaster Says Father Will “Never, Ever Recover” From Scandal
2 jan 2024
Son of a wrongfully convicted postmaster, Varchas Patel says his father will “never, ever recover” from the Post Office scandal.
The case was a miscarriage of justice involving the wrongful civil and criminal prosecutions of an unpublished number of sub-postmasters (SPMs) for theft, false accounting and fraud.
The cases are the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history, spanning a period of over twenty years with many aspects of the scandal remaining unresolved.
Mr Patel says: “His reputation is in tatters, family were horrible. There was racism, harassment, death threats from locals – they wanted him dead!”
72 Wrongly jailed at 19 years old in Post Office scandal | Janet Skinner & Tracy Felstead
15 feb 2022
These two women were wrongfully convicted and sent to prison because of a flawed Post Office computer system.
Former postmaster Janet Skinner spent nine months in prison, and Tracy Felstead spent six months in a young offenders institution.
This is their story of trauma and injustice.
73 “We Basically Planned Our Suicide” – Post Office Worker On How Scandal ‘Ruined Her Life’
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31 aug 2023
Nicola Arch, who was wrongly accused of stealing money while working for the Post Office, tells Jeremy Kyle the ordeal made her cancel her wedding and even plan to take her own life.
She’s joined by author and campaigner Nick Wallis to speak about how around 700 Post Office workers were wrongfully convicted, and some sent to prison, for theft and false accounting due to the faulty software, Horizon.
Many still haven’t received compensation, despite going to prison or having community service sentences, with the cases constituting Britain’s most widespread miscarriage of justice.
74 “It’s Beyond Contempt!” Jeremy Kyle And Nick Wallis Talk Post Office Scandal Inquiry
6 sep 2023
The Post Office scandal is said to be a miscarriage of justice involving the wrongful civil and criminal prosecutions of an unpublished number of sub-postmasters (SPMs) for theft, false accounting and fraud.
The cases are the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history, spanning a period of over twenty years with many aspects of the scandal remaining unresolved.
Jeremy Kyle says: “Does the post office have any idea of the scale of misjustice that’s been hanging around for 15 years.”
75 “I Lost My Livelihood” Post Office Scandal Victim To Bring Legal Case After ITV Drama
6 sep 2023
The Post Office scandal is said to be a miscarriage of justice involving the wrongful civil and criminal prosecutions of an unpublished number of sub-postmasters (SPMs) for theft, false accounting and fraud.
The cases are the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history, spanning a period of over twenty years with many aspects of the scandal remaining unresolved.
Jeremy Kyle says: “Does the post office have any idea of the scale of misjustice that’s been hanging around for 15 years.”
76 “I Lost My Livelihood” Post Office Scandal Victim To Bring Legal Case After ITV Drama
A former sub-postmistress who lost everything due to the Post Office’s Horizon IT system says she wants to bring a legal case after seeing the ITV drama on the scandal. Grandmother Cheryl Shaw says she had to put in her own money after the Horizon accounting software began stating that she was short in her weekly count-ups. She joins TalkTV’s Rosanna Lockwood and says she now wants to bring a legal case. Ministers are drawing up plans to hasten the clearing of names of the hundreds who were wrongfully convicted.
77 The Great Post Office Scandal: What Went Wrong and Why It Matters, with Nick Wallis
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26 mei 2022 THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Nick Wallis, best known for his work on the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, joined us for the launch of the Manchester Innocence Project in February 2022.
Nick was joined by two former Subpostmasters, direct victims of one of the UK’s most significant miscarriages of justice. Pete Murray and Tom Hedges shared their first hand experiences of standing up against the government-owned Post Office, through the courts to eventual victory.
At minute 14: 2011 Nick Wallis 2015 Panorama
At minute 19: What the Post Office is?
At minute 21: When Britain is created
At minute 23:45: Proximity to power
At minute 52: Tom Hedges
At minute 1 h 19: Why Horizon doesn’t work
At minute 1:32: Ian Strawn
At minute 1:36: Scandals Blood…
At minute 1:48: The Press in miscarrage of justice
78 Stephen Flynn grills Rishi Sunak over Post Office scandal at PMQs
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10 jan 2024
79 Post Office scandal: My family was ‘abused’ in Post Office ordeal | Former sub-postmaster
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6 jan 2024
“My daughter was bullied. She once was on the school bus and was spat in her hair by a young boy because her father was a thief.”
Former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton describes what it was like to be accused of stealing money in the Post Office scandal.
80 Rishi Sunak responds to Post Office Horizon scandal and confirms compensation plans
81 Post office victim was ‘forced’ to plead guilty to fraud to avoid jail time
8 jan 2024
“We couldn’t prove that they weren’t our losses, so the Post Office just demanded the money.”
Former subpostmaster Tim Brentall, who received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to false accounting, still hasn’t received any compensation from the Post Office. Speaking to Stig Abell on Times Radio, he said he would like to see the Post Office removed as the arbiter of the compensation scheme.
82 Former sub-postmaster struggles to find work after being ‘tarred as a fraudster’
9 jan 2024
The justice secretary is meeting with senior judges to discuss ways to accelerate the appeals of those convicted in the Horizon scandal, with cabinet minister Mel Stride saying an announcement could come soon.
Former sub-postmaster Tim Brentnall joined us to discuss his involvement in the 16-year-long controversy and how it affected his life.
83 The Post Office Scandal: who’s to blame for Britain’s greatest miscarriage of justice?
10 jan 2024 The News Agents
Why are more than 700 postmasters still trying to clear their names and access even the most basic compensation more than two decades after they were falsely accused of theft?
On today’s episode Adeep Sethi tells us how his family warned the Post Office in 2002 about Horizon’s problems – he has the proof in a newspaper article. Twenty two years on, and torn apart, they are still fighting for justice.
We ask Tory MP and campaigner David Davis whether British justice has failed.
A spokesperson for Fujitsu – who rolled out the Horizon system – said: “Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering. Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the Post Office Horizon IT statutory Inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it. Out of respect for the Inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time.”
And how did Helen Harrison – partner of disgraced Tory MP Peter Bone – get selected as the candidate for his newly vacated seat of Wellingborough? It’s a News Agents mystery.
84 “Fraudsters!” Mike Graham CALLS OUT Post Office Bosses Amid Horizon Scandal
10 jan 2024
Mike Graham calls out eight top execs who worked at the Post Office during the Horizon scandal, earning big money while victims “suffered”.
It comes after the former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is set to hand back her CBE following the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters.
The former chief executive, who ran Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was appointed a CBE in December 2018.
In a statement, Ms Vennells said: “I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.”
Mike says: “Let’s hope today’s events are the beginning of the end for these fraudsters, never again will they push the little people around!”.
85 Mike Graham Calls For Someone To “Sort Out Lawless Britain” Amid Rise In Violence
10 jan 2024
TalkTV’s Mike Graham calls for someone to “sort out lawless Britain”, as he recounts seeing heavy violence in Wakefield on Tuesday.
This comes after fellow presenter Alex Phillips recently spoke about her harrowing experience of being mugged on Oxford Street in London.
Ms Philips says she was walking down Oxford Street in central London when a boy grabbed her bag and ‘karate chopped’ her arm while she was holding her phone.
She said the boy sped off after realising he would have to get off his bike to pick up the bag which had fallen onto the floor.
Mike says: “Thugs were attacking a parked car outside a pub, smashing windows and severing wing-mirrors with machetes… are we really willing to put up with this?”.
86 Criminal charges in the Post Office scandal? Feat. Marina Purkiss & Wilfred | Jeremy Vine
8 jan 2024
It’s been announced that criminal charges are being brought in the historic Post Office case featured in a drama by ITV.
But why does it take a television show for this to happen and is the current compensation adequate given the damage it did to the employees?
Jeremy Vine on 5 is on television every weekday at 9:15am until 1:30pm on Channel 5.
87 The Post Office Horizon Scandal: Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom on campaigning for justice | House of Lords
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8 jan 2024
James Arbuthnot – now Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom – was MP for Northeast Hampshire at the time of the Post Office Horizon Scandal. His constituent Jo Hamilton, was one of the subpostmasters affected and he has been campaigning, alongside others, ever since.
Hear more from Lord Arbuthnot on Horizon and its background, what has happened since and what he hopes will happen next in this clip from the House of Lords Podcast, recorded in June 2021.
88 Justice Denied: The Post Office Scandal
89 Post Office scandal is ‘deeply instructive’ about how the UK works | LBC debate
90 Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake gives Commons statement on the Post Office scandal
Live gestreamd op 8 jan 2024
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake issues a statement in the House of Commons on the Post Office scandal.
Rishi Sunak says he would “strongly support” the Honours Forfeiture Committee should it consider revoking the CBE of ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells. Ministers are meeting today to discuss how to help victims of the Horizon scandal
91 ‘UTTER FAILURE!’ Richard Tice FUMES at MPs over Post Office scandal and Fujitsu contracts
92 Post Office ‘buried’ computer error report
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10 jan 2024
“They wanted to, quote, keep it out of the public domain.”
It’s “absolutely clear” that the Post Office “buried” a report which highlighted errors with the computer system, says IT consultant Jason Coyne.
93 Post Office’s Shocking Concealment of Evidence
10 jan 2024
The Post Office appears to have concealed/failed to disclose key evidence throughout the Horizon Scandal that could and should have exonerated the subpostmasters.
94 Post Office scandal: Former justice secretary calls for new law to end injustice to sub-postmasters
8 jan 2024 #TimesRadio
“We’ve never seen such a great number of innocent people being wrongfully convicted.”
Former justice secretary Robert Buckland tells #TimesRadio he would welcome a review of the honours received by people connected with the Post Office scandal, including former chief executive Paula Vennells, and calls for a new law to end the injustice affecting thousands of sub-postmasters.
95 Post Office scandal: Sub-postmistress ‘had no tears left’
8 jan 2024
Sky’s Sophy Ridge talks to Janet Skinner from Hull, who was given a nine month sentence in 2007 over an alleged shortfall of £59,000 from her Post Office branch.
Janet served three months in prison before being released with an electronic tag, and said that while in prison she cried so much “she had no tears left to cry.”
96 How a TV drama reignited a UK postal scandal | REUTERS
97 ‘I’ve lost everything’ – Victim of Post Office scandal shares emotional story
98 ‘The Most Widespread Miscarriage Of Justice’ Mr Bates vs The Post Office | Good Morning Britain
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2 jan 2024
ITV Drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ began airing this week. The Horizon scandal, described as “the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history”, resulted in more than 700 post office operators being prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 for theft, fraud and false accounting because of faulty accounting software installed in the late 1990s.
We speak with Alan Bates, founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, who is portrayed by Toby Jones in the series, about his experience and fight against t the Post Office, resulting in a £58 million settlement for postmasters.
Broadcast on 02/01/24
99 Daily Podcast: Post Office scandal – the victim, the journalist and the politician
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8 jan 2024
More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 in what’s been deemed the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history. They were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a faulty software system called Horizon.
Many lost jobs, homes, faced court battles and some took their own lives. So far, fewer than 100 have had their convictions quashed. In 2023 an independent inquiry began, and the Horizon scandal story has been serialized in a TV drama on ITV, boosting renewed interest in their fight for justice.
On the Sky New Daily, host Jonathan Samuels hears from three people who were portrayed in the ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’, including former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton who had – within a year of owning his east Yorkshire post office – a computer system which showed around £25,000 in discrepancies. He was made to repay the money and pay costs of £321,000, which ended up bankrupting him.
Jonathan also speaks to Lord James Arbuthnot, who has supported victims of the Horizon scandal in seeking justice, and journalist Rebecca Thomson who first reported on the scandal in 2009 writing for Computer Weekly magazine.
100 Starmer under FIRE as he ‘could have overruled Post Office’ to stop ‘atrocious’ scandal
101 “Leaders In Charge At The Time MUST Hand Back Bonuses” Says Conservative MP On Post Office Scandal
10 jan 2024
TalkTV’s Kevin O’Sullivan and Alex Phillips are joined by conservative MP Paul Bristow to discuss the fallout from the Post Office scandal.
Rishi Sunak has said a new law will be introduced so people wrongly convicted in the scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated”.
In the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the year, the PM said he plans to make sure those convicted as part of the Post Office issue get exonerated through an act of parliament.
Mr Sunak also said those who were part of the group litigation order against the Post Office would be eligible for an “upfront payment of £75,000”.
It comes after the former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is set to hand back her CBE following the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters.
102 Post Office Scandal: Did Keir Starmer IGNORE plight of posties?