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Networked Knowledge Media Reports": 9 July 2025; Julia Kollewe The Guardian, Post Office Horizon IT scandal: five things we learned from the report
We look at what volume one of the inquiry report describes as the ‘disastrous’ human impact
Volume one of the final inquiry report from the retired high court judge Sir Wyn Williams,
who chaired the hearings into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, lays bare the “disastrous”
human impact on the thousands of post office operators wrongly accused of taking money
from their branches because faulty software showed a shortfall, many of whom went to
prison.
Here are five key findings from the report:
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1. At least 13 suicides have been linked to the scandal
The number of people who either took their own lives or contemplated doing so is much
higher than thought. Previous reporting had linked the scandal to four suicides, but Williams
said the total was more like 13, and could be higher if some deaths have not been reported to
the Post Office and his inquiry.
At least 59 people had suicidal thoughts, and 10 attempted to act on them, some more than
once. Considering suicide “was a common experience across both those who were and were
not prosecuted”, the report said.
There was also a wider mental health toll for those caught up in false accusations, with
accounts of depression, anxiety and 19 people driven to abuse alcohol.
2. About 10,000 people are seeking financial redress
There are about 10,000 eligible claimants in compensation schemes, and that number is likely to rise “at least by hundreds, if not more, over the coming months”, the report said.
More than £1bn had been paid out to more than 7,300 post office operators as of early June, according to the government.
Speaking after the report was published, Williams said there were still more than 3,000
claims to resolve, including 1,500 complex and standard claims which were either in the
process of assessment or waiting for the process to begin.
“Postmasters have described significant delays in receiving compensation, frustration from a
lack of information throughout the process, and settling for less than they believe amounts to
full and fair financial redress,” the report said. “Some elderly postmasters have expressed
concerns that they will have limited time to obtain any benefit from the redress they may
eventually receive.”
Williams said many of the claims worth between £20,000 and £60,000 were not settled on a
“full and fair” basis, while many larger claims had not been fully settled.
3. About 1,000 operators were wrongly convicted
The figure is higher than previous reported estimates, which have varied between 700 and
just over 900. There were also between 50 and 60 people who were prosecuted, but not
convicted. “It is at least possible that there may have been more,” the report said. On top of
this were those whose cases never reached court, the “many thousands of people have been
held responsible, wrongly, for losses which were illusory”.
4. Post Office bosses behaved ‘unacceptably’
Those in charge at the Post Office should have known the Horizon IT system was faulty, but
“maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate” when prosecuting branch operators the report said.
“Although many of the individuals who gave evidence before me were very reluctant to accept it … a number of senior, and not so senior, employees of the Post Office
knew or, at the very least, should have known that Legacy Horizon was capable of error,”
Williams said.
His report criticised the “wholly unacceptable behaviour” at times of a number of employees
at the Post Office and Fujitsu, which developed the software, as well as by the two companies as institutions. The Post Office was found to have adopted an “unnecessarily adversarial attitude” to those seeking financial redress.
Innocent subpostmasters went to jail, but now it is clear: the Post Office boss class belong
there instead
The government, Post Office and Fujitsu have until 10 October to respond; The three entities have been asked to come up with a programme of “restorative justice” –
such as psychological support for victims, an entrepreneurial fund and memorial scheme – bythe end of October.
Ministers and the Post Office have also been asked to publicly explain their meaning of the
phrase “full and fair financial redress”, which can be then used to assess how much to offer in each case.
It seems likely that Williams wants to include the government’s response in his final report,
along with further recommendations. We do not know when volume two will be published,
but it is more complex and likely to take longer, meaning it could come as late as next year.
It will cover the technical issues with the Horizon IT system, the Post Office’s handling of the reported discrepancies, legal proceedings against post office operators, institutional culture and government oversight.
The entire post can be read at: The Guardian story can be read at:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/08/post-office-horizon-it-scandal-five-
things-we-learned-from-the-report
Thanks to Networked knowledge:
http://netk.net.au/UK/PostOffice54.pdf
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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