Post Office scandal IT firm signs Games deal

A FIRM at the centre of one of the UK’s largest miscarriages of justice has been awarded a

£6.1 million deal to provide a phone network for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

Fujitsu recently struck the deal with Birmingham 2022.

Games bosses insist the firm was appointed after a “full public procurement process conducted in compliance with industry best practice”.

But questions have been asked whether the Japanese multinational should be given large UK contracts.

Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 sub-postmasters were convicted of serious offences including fraud and some sent to prison.

Due to failures linked to a computer accounting system called Horizon – developed by the Japanese firm – Post Office bosses pursued charges against innocent workers across the country.

Many victims found themselves with criminal records and shunned by communities. A public inquiry is ongoing.

Among those who have given evidence is Karen Wilson, whose husband Julian Wilson ran a post office on the outskirts of Redditch. He died of bowel cancer in August 2016 before his conviction was overturned. She insists the disease that claimed her husband’s life had its roots in the stress he endured.

Tracy Felstead, 39, from

Telford, was accused by a judge of showing no remorse as she was jailed for six months while still a teenager. She told the inquiry that she attempted suicide after being falsely accused.

Fujitsu has also been awarded a new £500 million Government contract to provide a range of computing services at HMRC, a decision Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, branded “a kick in the teeth for sub-postmasters”.

She said: “The Government is doing nothing to ensure this company is held to account for its role in the Horizon scandal. People lost their homes, their reputations, even their lives as a result. All ongoing government contracts with Fujitsu must be urgently reviewed.”

Adrian Corcoran, chief information officer for Birmingham 2022, said: “Following a full public procurement process, which was conducted in compliance with industry best practice, we appointed Fujitsu as our Venue Network Integration Supplier.

“This involves Fujitsu designing and implementing the data networks for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“Fujitsu is not providing any software to Birmingham 2022. Fujitsu has confirmed to us that they have been fully cooperating with the ongoing Post Office Horizon IT inquiry.”

Fujitsu declined to comment.