London, Jul 8 (PTI) A public inquiry into the wrongful accusations of theft and fraud in a historic UK Post Office scandal involving a faulty accounting system impacting hundreds, including many British Indians, on Tuesday concluded that the impact on their lives had been "disastrous".
Writing in the ‘Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Report – Volume 1’, inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams noted that at least 13 postmasters and postmistresses may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused based on evidence from the faulty Horizon IT system deployed by the Post Office.
He also highlighted that the delivery of financial redress to many claimants since the scandal dating back over two decades came to light has been “bedevilled with unjustified delays”.
"The impact upon those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences has been disastrous,” the report states.
"The impact upon those held liable for losses which had not actually occurred has also been disastrous in many instances. Some of the close family members of many of these persons have also suffered considerably,” it reads.
It acknowledges that almost as soon as “Legacy Horizon” had been rolled out, postmasters began to complain that Horizon was, on occasions, producing false data which affected their branch accounts. The complaints continued throughout the lifespan of both Legacy Horizon and the subsequent Horizon Online accounting software systems produced by Fujitsu.
"As the years went by the complaints grew louder and more persistent. Members of Parliament became involved and provided substantial support to postmasters. Still, the Post Office trenchantly resisted the contention that on occasions Horizon produced false data,” the report highlights.
"Like its predecessor (Legacy Horizon), Horizon Online was also, from time to time, afflicted by bugs, errors and defects which had the effect of showing gains and losses in branch and Crown Office accounts which were illusory. I am satisfied that a number of employees of Fujitsu and the Post Office knew that this was so,” Williams’ report concludes.
Seema Misra was one of those impacted and had her conviction quashed in April 2021 as the Court of Appeal ruled that she had been wrongly imprisoned over 12 years ago after being accused of stealing GBP 75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey, where she was the sub-postmistress. She was eight weeks pregnant at the time of her sentencing and has repeatedly refused to accept any apologies.
"I don't accept their apologies at all. Go behind bars and then I'll think about it," she told the BBC after the Post Office Ltd issued an "unreserved" apology for "a shameful period in our history" in the wake of Tuesday's report.
The government, which formally owns Post Office Ltd, has paid out millions in compensation to many of the sub-postmasters impacted but there are many others still waiting for years. The first volume of the report calls for urgent action to ensure "full and fair compensation" is not delayed any further and makes 19 recommendations towards this end.
"By 31 October 2025, the Department [for Business and Trade], Fujitsu and the Post Office shall publish, either separately or together, a report outlining any agreed programme of restorative justice and/or any actions taken by that date to produce such a programme,” report author Williams stresses.
Last year, then British prime minister Rishi Sunak tabled a law in Parliament towards a blanket exoneration to quash convictions brought about by erroneous Horizon evidence.
The controversial system, developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was first rolled out in 1999 to some post offices to be used for a variety of tasks, including accounting and stocktaking. But it appeared to have significant bugs, which could cause the system to misreport, sometimes involving large sums as was the case in the case of these sub-postmasters.
The next volume of the public inquiry report, expected later, will go into more details around the conduct of senior management and officials in the scandal.