by An inquiry into the Post Office scandal heard from a “chorus of cowards” and a “parade of liars, bullies, amnesiacs and arrogant individuals”, lawyers for victims called for criminal prosecution during a hearing in London.
In their closing statements at the latest stage of the inquiry, the legal representatives of the hundreds of post office operators whose lives have been ruined by the men and women who have testified in recent weeks.
Critics ranged from Fujitsu’s European boss, Paul Patterson, with his vague promises of compensation, to middle-class Post Office staff who privately discussed the shredding of damning evidence and incompetent investigators who were said to have bullied their profit targets. financial.
The Post Office pursued more than 900 branch managers between 1999 and 2015 after Fujitsu-built Horizon accounting software spotted money missing from their branches.
Evidence has been heard that Horizon was known from the start to be full of bugs and defects but this was withheld from the post office operators who were being prosecuted and from the courts, with brand reputation and financial considerations taking priority over the justice
The Post Office commissioned a “whitewash” report to hide the truth, and its investigators “caused and harassed and in some cases drove honest men and women to their graves”, said Sam Stein KC, representing the largest number. of the victims.
Stein said the only consolation was that the Metropolitan police were closely monitoring the hearing, which has been running since 2021 and will resume for the fifth session of hearings in July.
“Step four has pulled back the curtain on the decades of super conflict at the Post Office that went away and covered up,” Stein said of the evidence that victims were liked and disrespected by their employers. on them “because of, and I quote from an investigator at the Post Office. , they are ‘all crooks’”.
Speaking to retired High Court Judge Sir Wyn Williams, who is chairing the inquiry, Stein said: “The Post Office knew the Horizon system was flawed but still sought to bring prosecutions of sub-masters, civil actions initiated against the postmasters and refused to investigate these issues. because the sub-masters could find the truth.
“You have seen before you a parade of liars, bullies, amnesiacs and arrogant people,” he said, with “subordinates who are treated as subordinates” and as “expendable resources”.
Stein added: “It is remarkable, we say, that there are others who chose to plead amnesia for every witness who was brazen about their behavior…
“We know, of course, that the inquiry cannot make any decisions regarding criminal or civil liability. It is of little comfort to our clients that the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Metropolitan Police followed the hearings closely.”
Around 80% of Post Office and Fujitsu victims were yet to come forward, the inquiry heard.
Stein said those convicted, made bankrupt or forced to repay the Post Office for paper shortages should claim compensation. “We suggest that there is nothing more to worry about from the Post Office,” he said. “They had a bad reputation, they can’t hurt you anymore.”
Tim Moloney KC, representing 76 post office workers who were wrongly convicted on the basis of Horizon’s record, said the inquiry must ask whether there was, did not, could not or would not have heard any warnings that Horizon lacked. integrity because their ears were filled with cash”.
The inquiry heard that Post Office investigators had financial and career incentives to push for successful prosecutions, and Fujitsu was said to be trying to protect its government contracts. It is also believed that the Post Office benefited financially by “falsely obtaining” funds from post office operators when in fact there was no deficit.
Maloney said that despite the obvious wrongdoing, “recommendations for an independent external review were made in March 2010 after contact between a number of senior managers including the head of criminal law, the head of security and the head of product and practicality” .
He called for the statements of witnesses heard at the inquiry to be the start of a “strict criminal investigation” and that compensation be paid quickly to those whose lives were ruined. “Tragically, postmasters continue to die before any offer of proper, full and final compensation,” he said.
The inquiry will resume in the spring with evidence from former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells and current Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who was post minister between 2010 and 2012.
