Former Post O ce manager denies pensions plan claim
A FORMER Post O ce manager has denied being the architect of a “horrendous” plan to target the pensions of fraud-accused subpostmasters.
The Horizon IT inquiry heard ex-chief operating o cer David Miller attended a December 2004 board meeting in which he was assigned the task of ensuring “that the pensions of fraudsters were targeted to help ensure the company was reimbursed”.
Mr Miller also denied likening Horizon system developers Fujitsu to a “man who had just shoved 15 inches of bayonet up my posterior”.
He was quoted in a September 2010 PowerPoint presentation which also said leaders of the organisation felt they had been “shaed” by the Government and the company then known as ICL Pathway.
The document, which was prepared by former IT programme manager and head of automation Dave Smith, said the agreement with the technology giant had been signed with a “gun pointed at the head” of the Post O ce.
Addressing the minutes of the 2004 board meeting, counsel to the inquiry Emma Price asked: “Was this a proposal that you made to the board, this particular reference to targeting the pensions of fraudsters, or was this something that was proposed by somebody else?”
Mr Miller replied: “It was something that was proposed by somebody else. I don’t recall this in any detail at all.”
Ms Price continued: “What was your view on that?”
Mr Miller said: “Seeing it here, it sounds horrendous. Sorry, it sounds severe in terms of its intention.”
The former temporary managing director of the Post O ce told the inquiry yesterday that he had “absolutely not” made the comment about Fujitsu which was displayed in the 2010 presentation, labelling the words “unprofessional”.
The document read: “The leaders at Post O ce Counters Ltd (POCL) felt they had been shaed by a Government/Pathway stitch-up.
“Whilst the group’s board signed up to the deal (Sunday aernoon in the CEO’s kitchen!) they did so with a gun pointed at their head – ‘sign this or all the other things you want you can forget’. Post O ce Counters Ltd felt stued by Pathway with terms that were imposed.
“Dave Miller, the MD of Post
O ce Network, said at the time: ‘I have the same feelings about Pathway as I would for the man who had just shoved 15 inches of bayonet up my posterior’.
“No statement could more adequately express the attitude of Post O ce towards Pathway.”
Ms Price asked: “Do you recall making the comment that’s in quote marks there?”
He replied: “Absolutely not.” Ms Price continued: “Are you saying you didn’t make that comment?”
Mr Miller said: “I didn’t make that comment.”
During his time as managing director of Post O ce Network, Mr Miller told the inquiry he “should not have said” to the organisation’s board that the faulty computer system was “robust and fit for purpose”.
Mr Miller was recorded as saying the words during the July 1999 board meeting.
He told the inquiry: “I should not have said that it was robust.”
Ms Price then asked: “What is your position on whether you did say that?”
Mr Miller replied: “I can’t remember the board meeting, but I make the assumption the board minutes are correct – so I did say it.”
Inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams interjected: “Sorry, Mr Miller, I want to be clear about this – you don’t actually remember what you said, you are prepared to assume that the board minutes are correct, and if they were correct, you should not have said what is recorded, is that it?”
Mr Miller said: “I’m afraid so, sir, yes.”