Post Office ‘knew its defence was false’, secret files suggest
SECRET papers indicate the Post Office paid out £100million on fighting sub-postmasters in court, even though its defence was untrue.
A draft report said it was shown evidence by 2017 that the losses branches faced could have been due to errors in the Horizon IT system or remote tampering.
Instead, during the High Court case of Alan Bates vs The Post Office – at the heart of the acclaimed ITV drama – the organisation blamed theft or mistakes by sub-postmasters.
Prosecuted
Patrick Green KC, lead barrister for the sub-postmasters in the Bates case, called the report’s findings “absolutely shocking”.
He added: “I don’t think the case should have happened.”
More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 because of accounting faults with the Horizon system, which was created by Japanese IT company Fujitsu.
The High Court case was brought by 555 sub-postmasters, led by Mr Bates, from 2018 to 2019.
They argued flaws with Horizon or failed attempts by Fujitsu to correct system errors remotely led to the missing cash. The Post Office spent £100million of public money fighting the legal action, according to the draft report, which was uncovered by the BBC.
In March 2016 the report, called Bramble, was commissioned by the Post Office and carried out by consultants Deloitte. Within the document, Deloitte indicates it has discussed its findings with “Post Office management” and some were shared with PO investigators for further analysis. The Post Office chairman at the time, Tim Parker, also informed the BBC through his legal representative that PO lawyers liaised with Deloitte on Project Bramble and were involved in handling, distributing and disclosing it. He said the lawyers were also involved in the “strategy and day to day management of the litigation” – which led to concerns over whether they had complied with their responsibilities not to mislead the court.
Jane MacLeod, the Post Office’s general counsel during the Bates case, said she backed and was helping the public inquiry into the scandal.
But she said as the probe was ongoing, “I do not think it is appropriate to comment at this time”.
The Fujitsu Group said it “regards this matter with the utmost seriousness and offers its deepest apologies to the sub-postmasters and their families”. It added its UK subsidiary was co-operating with the inquiry and would work with the Government on “appropriate actions, including contribution to compensation”.
The Post Office said: “We are deeply sorry for the impact of the Horizon IT scandal on so many people’s lives and continue to pay redress to victims as swiftly as possible, with £179million paid to around 2,800 postmasters to date.
“Alongside financial redress for victims, 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.
“The next phases of the inquiry will examine the issues raised here and it would be inappropriate to comment outside of that process.”