Miscarriage of justice

The admission by Fujitsu’s European boss Paul Patterson that the company was aware of glitches in the Horizon computer system used by sub-postmasters prosecuted for theft and false accounting is an important moment in this lengthy saga.

Mr Patterson said the firm has a “moral obligation” to contribute to a compensation scheme for the victims. At a Commons Business and Trade committee hearing, he apologised for the company’s role in this “appalling miscarriage of justice”.

Until now, Fujitsu has declined to admit culpability while waiting for the public inquiry to conclude its work. But the latter, set up in 2020, could have a year or more still to run. The inquiry has become an excuse for key participants to say nothing.

Since the ITV drama on the scandal, more progress has been made to redress the wrongs suffered by the sub-postmasters than in the previous 15 years. But it is still too slow. Compensation has been promised by the Government and, while Fujitsu says it will contribute, it is waiting for the inquiry to determine how much. This process is mired in bureaucracy and needs to be expedited.

Legislation to exonerate all those wrongly convicted is to be rushed through Parliament and the Post Office is under police investigation.

We still need to know what technical problems led to the errors in accounting and for the Post Office to be open about when it knew a miscarriage of justice was taking place. Paula Vennells, the former chief executive, is to appear before the inquiry soon. She needs to provide some answers.