‘Subpostmasters unhappy with Horizon should quit’
A POST OFFICE legal chief once told colleagues subpostmasters who were unhappy with Horizon could quit.
Rodric Williams made the remarks in relation to a request from journalist Nick Wallis in December 2014, ahead of a One Show programme on the system, the inquiry heard.
Mr Williams, who was a litigation lawyer for the Post Office at the time, told colleagues in the organisation’s press team: “We don’t need to do research on Horizon – it’s the system we provide to our agents and require them to use. If agents don’t like it they can choose not to provide services for us.
“The vast majority of our agents and other users work with it just fine and we’re not required to bespoke our point of sale accounting system to the whims of each individual agent.”
Commenting specifically on a request for data that showed Horizon was loved and trusted by sub-postmasters, Mr Williams, who is now a head of legal for dispute resolution and brand at the Post Office, also wrote: “This is puerile. The best I can think of is to show that agents aren’t voting against Horizon with their feet….”
More than 900 subpostmasters were wrongfully prosecuted after the faulty software reported fictional shortfalls on their accounts.
Yesterday, Lee Castleton, who was left bankrupt after being pursued through the civil courts for an alleged £25,000 shortfall, said that Mr Williams should not be allowed to keep his current job. He told The Telegraph: “He should absolutely not continue to hold his role.”
Mr Castleton, who was played by Will Mellor in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, added: “This is the reason why so many people feel re-criminalised going in to ask for money – so if anybody feels re-criminalised in that scenario because of people like that then those people don’t deserve to be in those jobs.”
Meanwhile, Seema Misra, whose conviction was overturned in 2021 but is still waiting for compensation, said: “He has clearly said some disparaging things about subpostmasters.”
The former subpostmistress, who was pregnant when she was sent to prison for six counts of false accounting and one of theft in 2010, said: “In this kind of situation, the Government really needs to step in and make sure that people like Mr Williams aren’t involved in the compensation process.”
Last month, the Business and Trade Committee recommended that the Post Office’s involvement in any financial redress schemes should end.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: “The Government set up the Horizon inquiry to get to the bottom of this scandal and it would not be right for us to comment whilst the inquiry is ongoing.”