By Jess Jones
Leaked recordings have exposed early knowledge of Post Office officials learning about flaws in the Horizon software, implicating them in wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters.
Flaws in the Horizon IT system, crucial for recording branch transactions, led to wrongful prosecutions and financial ruin for hundreds of sub-postmasters in the UK. The scandal has sparked national outrage.
Ian Henderson of Second Sight said: “What we’re seeing from the emails is [Fujitsu] were getting instructions, in effect, directly from the helpdesk saying, ‘Look, we need this fixed. You know, can you work your magic?’ and the responses are going back, ‘Yeah, it will be done in the overnight run tonight. We will change the balances or whatever’.”
The Post Office’s chief lawyer, Susan Crichton, and company secretary, Alwen Lyons, were on that call.
The tapes also show that former Post Office chief Paula Vennells was aware of Horizon failings six years before the organisation acknowledged wrongdoing in 2019.
Company offficials said on the tapes they had told Vennells about the faulty software system: “The way that I’ve tried to brief Paula is as soon as I have evidence that, you know, there is a problem she knows about it the next minute”, company secretary Alwen Lyons said.
The revelations have sparked renewed outrage, with the Business and Trade Committee considering contempt charges against Vennells and other implicated officials. Committee member Liam Byrne said: “We are deeply concerned by the latest revelations regarding the Post Office and will be exploring options for penalising the leadership that presided over the scandal.”
Responding toSky News, Vennells said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.
“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.
“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We remain fully focused on getting to the truth of what happened and supporting the statutory Public Inquiry, which is chaired by a judge with the power to question witnesses under oath, and is therefore best placed to achieve this.”
Fujitsu has declined to comment.
