Post Office bosses ‘knew of flaws in Horizon system’

Victims of the Horizon IT scandal have called for Post Office bosses to face criminal action after bombshell recordings proved management knew that sub-postmasters were not responsible for accounting errors.

Channel 4 News published covertly recorded discussions between Post Office executives and two forensic accountants from 2013.

The conversations, which included Post Office company secretary Alwen Lyons and Post Office chief lawyer Susan Crichton, revealed that management were aware that the Horizon computer system could be used remotely to alter sub-postmasters’ accounts.

In written evidence to a Parliamentary select committee inquiry of 2015, the Post Office denied that accounts could be remotely edited, only admitting it was possible during a High Court case in 2019.

The ability of Fujitsu staff to enter and alter accounts would have raised doubts that unexplained losses could only be explained at the time by errors or theft by sub-postmasters, potentially undermining prosecutions.

A separate report from the BBC claims that leaked documents revealed the Post Office was shown evidence in 2017 that financial shortfalls could have been a result of faulty IT software rather than human error.

The draft report, named Bramble, was commissioned by the Post Office in March 2016 and was carried out by Deloitte. Throughout the documents, it is claimed that Deloitte discussed findings with Post Office management and investigators.

According to the report, the document is the first evidence of the Post Office knowing Fujistu staff could change accounts remotely, and that software could change, add or delete transactions without leaving a trace.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “Alongside financial redress for victims,

The recordings involved Post Office company secretary Alwen Lyons

there must also be accountability. The best forum to achieve this is the statutory Public Inquiry, chaired by a judge with the power to question witnesses under oath.”

Seema Misra, 48, who ran a post office in West Byfleet, Surrey, was given a 15-month jail sentence in 2010 while eight weeks pregnant, having been wrongly convicted of stealing £75,000.

In 2021 her conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal along with 38 other sub-postmasters – but she is yet to receive compensation.

Reacting to the recordings, she told i: “It’s good that the media is working so hard to get all these recordings, but what is the Met Police or the justice system going to do?

“I don’t have any faith in the Post Office – the culture stinks. But I have some faith in the justice system.”

The inquiry into the Post Office and the Horizon IT scandal will continue next month.

A Met Police spokesperson said that the force began an investigation in January 2020 into the matter following a referral from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Fujitsu said it regards the matter with the utmost seriousness “and offers its deepest apologies to the subpostmasters and their families”.