Biggest miscarriage of justice in British history

It is a great shame that many sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses as well as their spouses went to their graves before their names could be cleared. This is on top of the four who committed suicide and the large number who served long prison sentences. Many families were ruined and bankrupted and do hope those responsible in the Post Office and Fujitsu would face justice.

by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

Our lives are increasingly dependent on technology, irrespective of whether we like it or not. Computer technology is advancing at such a tremendous pace that anyone who can afford it is in possession of a smartphone, even not-so-expensive ones doing most of the work done by an expensive desktop computer ten to fifteen years ago. In addition, though not fully, Smartphones have replaced cameras, video cameras, torchlights and even magnifying glasses! Computer technology has become so advanced, some consider it to be infallible and we are being pushed towards the era of Artificial Intelligence. However, caution is needed, especially with programmes as they could be affected by bugs, errors and defects (BEDs). This, compounded by machinations of interested parties, has resulted in the “Post Office Horizon scandal” which many call ‘the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history’.

An injustice perpetrated since 1999, was brought to focus by a four-part docudrama produced and broadcast by ITV, commercial broadcaster second only to BBC in the UK. “Mr. Bates vs The Post Office” started broadcast on 1st January and had been watched by over 9 million, many finding it impossible to hold back tears over the plight of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses who were treated shabbily, unjustly by the Post Office due to no fault of theirs but due entirely to the problems of a computer system provided by the Japanese tech-giant Fujitsu.

Royal Mail goes back to 1516, when Henry VIII started the British Postal Service, and functioned under the government till 2013 when a part of it was privatised by the Conservatives, mostly due to ideological reasons. Collection and delivery functions were privatised as Royal Mail, in spite of many objecting to the use of the prefix Royal for a private company. The Post Office remained under the government, which encompassed the nationwide network of branches offering a wide range of postal, government and financial services. Post Office is managed by an independent board and Sub-post offices are managed by sub-postmasters or sub-postmistresses. In addition to selling stamps etc., one of the main functions of sub-post offices, before electronic transfer became commonplace, was the payment of state pensions. Therefore, these became the centre of the villages and sub-postmasters/mistresses were held in high esteem.

In 1999, the Post Office introduced the Horizon system, developed by Fujitsu, for accounting and stocktaking, etc. Soon after its introduction, sub-postmasters started complaining about bugs in the system as it falsely reported shortfalls, often running into many thousands of pounds. Some plugged the gap with their own money, as their contracts stated that they were responsible for any shortfalls. Many faced bankruptcies and some lost their livelihoods as the Post Office ignored their protests. When they contacted the Horizon helpline the standard response was “You are the only one facing these problems” which was a blatant lie as the Post Office as well as Fujitsu were aware that many complained.

Between 1999 and 2015 the Post Office, which had prosecution powers without referral to police, prosecuted 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses and another 283 cases were brought by other bodies including the Crown Prosecution Service. 833 were convicted, some going to prison for false accounting and theft and many were financially ruined. The worst of all was the loss of respect these sub-postmasters/postmistresses commanded. After all, they were pillars of the community who were made to look like fraudsters by the actions of the Post Office and Fujitsu. Some had their children bullied in schools and spat upon! Unable to face the loss of reputation four committed suicide. About a third of the sub-post offices were run by those of Asian origin and there was an element of racism too. A sub-postmaster of Indian background commented that a member of Post Office staff told him: “All the Indians are doing it. They have relatives, so they take the money and send it to them abroad”.

Although it was assured that no one had remote access to the terminals in the sub-post offices, a group of Fujitsu staff had access and the Post Office was aware of it. The docudrama recreated one of these episodes remarkably. A sub-postmaster, a trade union representative, who was invited to Fujitsu headquarters to convince the efficacy of the system was horrified when he found that terminals could be accessed even while postmasters were using them. When he complained about this, Fujitsu denied and all traces of his visit had been erased! Worst was yet to come. A couple of days after his protest, the sub-post office managed by his wife showed a deficit of £44,000 and she faced prosecution!

In spite of many programmes and a book by the journalist Nick Wallis exposing the scandal, nothing very much happened till “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” was broadcast. Perhaps, this illustrates the power of docudrama. After 20 years, campaigners led by Mr Alan Bates, an indefatigable fighter for justice portrayed in the docudrama, won a legal battle to have their cases reconsidered and to date 93 convictions have been overturned. Due to the mounting public pressure after the docudrama, Rishi Sunak announced plans for a general amnesty. Under government plans, victims will be able to sign a form to say they are innocent.

The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, led by a retired High Court judge, which started in 2020 was also given a new impetus with the docudrama, the CEO of Fujitsu Europe having to admit that the Horizon system had BEDs from the very beginning! Even more explosive was his declaration that the Post Office was well aware of it. He admitted that it was shameful of the Post Office not to disclose these facts to the sub-postmasters who were taking legal action. What is abhorrent is that the Post Office forced many innocent sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses to plead guilty to avoid prison sentences; with a further condition attached, that they would not criticize the Horizon system!

This shameful episode reflects very badly on many politicians too. Tony Blair was aware of the problems when he was PM but had instructed not to pursue any action against Fujitsu as it may upset Japan! Sir Ed Davey, the leader of Liberal Democrats and a well-known supporter of Tiger-rump, was the postal affairs minister in the coalition government. He refused to meet Alan Bates but now says he regrets not asking “tougher questions” of Post Office managers. Keir Starmer, the Labour leader. was the director of public prosecutions when some of the prosecutions took place. The heavily criticised former Post Office chief executive, Paula Vennells said she would hand back her CBE, which she received on the recommendation of Theresa May for “services to Post Office”, after a petition calling for its removal gathered more than a million signatures following the telecast of the docudrama.

It is a great shame that many sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses as well as their spouses went to their graves before their names could be cleared. This is on top of the four who committed suicide and the large number who served long prison sentences. Many families were ruined and bankrupted and do hope those responsible in the Post Office and Fujitsu would face justice.

At last, Fujitsu HQ in Tokyo is also showing an interest, probably to save the reputational damage. The least they can do is to adequately compensate the victims, instead of money draining from the public purse. This gross miscarriage of justice is still a long way off from being remedied.