To draw your attention to Mr Bates vs The Post Office

Still, however low on the chain he was, he should have at least investigated, given that was in his job title.

He wriggled out of the bonus question saying that it wasn't a bonus but became part of his pay. All those culpable should have to pay bonuses back for perpetrating what was ultimately money received through fraud for the PO.

Agree with both above, he is a far from charming man but also pretty low on the ladder. He's an 'only following orders' merchant isnt he. There are many far more culpable than he.

Stephen Bradshaw comes across very poorly indeed as a witness. He has admitted to lying on the historical witness statements on the grounds that he was told what to sign, even though he didn't believe it. Yet he was accusing sub-postmasters of lying and fraud. The irony.....

Does anyone know what post office investigators get paid? It is probably too much.

But I still have an uncomfortable feeling watching this. He is one of the 'little people' and his reputation is being trashed - yet it is ultimately the fault of the PO for placing him in a position of responsibility which he was manifestly unsuited for? Are the people with real accountability - those at the top of the PO, Fujitsu, the Government - going to face real consequences too?

I’m worried though that they’re just going after the low level people. The investigators and such.

They need to go after the big fish at the top.

As usual the people at the bottom will be made scapegoats.

And it’s the tax payer that will be footing all the compensation.

Im guessing that Fujitsu will get away scott free , they pay nothing and gain more contracts..

Indeed. Perjury and obstruction of justice do work.

The PO and Fujitsu were almost justified in their hope that it would never properly come out.

Actually a minor miracle it all came to light

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/64464/post-office-scandal-mr-bates-law

He's copying Johnson and Sunak - blame everyone else and/or pretend memory loss.

Slippery jobsworth. Someone else wrote that email he sent from his account. His bosses never told him there were problems with the computer system. It was Maureen in casework, it was the lawyers

They're taking a 10 min break.
Link here (I'm sure it will have been linked before), in case anyone can bear to watch:
www.postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk

Stephen Bradshaw is experiencing shortfalls in his evidence that he is unable to explain....

Placemarking

Former Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw testifying at the Inquiry. Shifty piece of work

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-67941754

I hope they have enough to make convictions without bargaining for evidence and that all guilty are made culpable, I worry that a lot of documents have now been destroyed.

From all the US TV shows I've watched, they make bargaining chips don't they with the mafia / drug rings?

Personally I can't see much difference between those organisations and the way the post office has operated.

More on the problems of procurement:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/11/fujitsu-repay-post-office-scandal-horizon-it-software
The firm has been awarded government contracts worth billions in recent years and its continued involvement in important IT schemes has raised concerns at Westminster.
Ministers tried to prevent Fujitsu getting more official work but this proved “impossible” despite its “woeful” performance, a Tory peer revealed on Wednesday.
Lord Maude of Horsham, who served as Cabinet Office minister under David Cameron, said procurement rules thwarted ministers’ efforts

www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/lord-arbuthnot-reviews-mr-bates-vs-post-office

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but an interesting piece from MP Arbuthnot portrayed in the drama.

I don't think we should allow anyone to blackmail us.

If he is granted immunity he might share an awful lot of information that might be very important in getting others in the know prosecuted.

Im not sure corporate manslaughter would work in a court of law , as they technically took their own lives.
But they should be charged with every charge possible. Including individuals.

Superb post

When huge sums of money are involved, morals and ethics always seem to disappear. £400K isn't going to buy Paula a 1st class ticket to Heaven. The Post Office should be prosecuted for Corporate Manslaughter. They knowingly allowed SPMs to use machinery that wasn't fit for purpose, and that caused the deaths of 4 employees.

I was just coming here to mention Gareth Jenkins. I hope he gets prosecuted and jailed for his part. An expert witness whose testimony was responsible for a lot of successful prosecutions. Disgusting man.

I realised today that my local post office was affected by this. As is becoming a familiar story the SBM admitted to making false entries in order to cover up losses of £25,000. Originally charged with stealing it, that charge was dropped after the prosecution accepted they hadn't taken it.

The false entries were apparently made because the SBM was trying to get the money together to put it in themselves.

This is from the news report at the time:

The SBM "had previously denied doing anything wrong, saying it was the fault of the official Post Office accounting system – known as Horizon – which, she claimed, was flawed and showed losses when in fact none had occurred. But when she appeared in court on Monday she admitted such a claim had no foundation."

She was given a suspended sentence, community work and £1000 costs. She also stumped up the £25,000.

Absolutely bloody shocking. She moved away from the area when it happened.

Government just announced that will overturn all convictions and offer £75k to all post masters. Those that lost more will have their claims assessed to deter how much they should receive.
The government minister stated that this could include people who actually did still from the Post office but even so everyone will be cleared.

Id imagine the people that lost smaller amounts will accept the automated £75 k pay out.

Those like Jo ,and Lee will hopefully get a larger pay out. Much larger

He is scared of being criminally prosecuted. The judge in the group litigation wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions when the case ended and said that this architect (Gareth Jenkins) and another Fujitsu employee (Ann Chambers) should be investigated for perjury in civil and criminal cases pursued by Post Office. The Met have been investigating the two of them for four years. Both have been interviewed under caution but neither has been arrested (and nor has anyone else).

Jenkins has repeatedly asked for immunity and for any evidence he gives to the inquiry to be privileged, so that it can't be used against him in any criminal prosecution. He has repeatedly been told that he isn't getting what he wants.

Thank you for the article link, @Lalgarh . From the article, it looks like PO are still playing games:

Mr Jenkins was first due to give testimony to the inquiry on July 6 2023 but on the eve of his evidence the Post Office produced 5,000 documents it said had just come to light. The appearance was rescheduled for November 2023 but again more than 3,000 documents were found by the Post Office, this time days beforehand, forcing the postponement.

He will be signed off sick next, no doubt, too ill to testify.

An NDA can't (legally) prevent the signatory from cooperating in a criminal inquiry, so he can stop bleating about that for a start. If he's basically said under oath that no one at Fujitsu could remotely access the system and change postmasters' accounts, then he needs to be prosecuted for perjury.

One of the most shocking parts of the dramatisation was the union chap who visited the Fujitsu high security room, was shown what they could do down there remotely to SPs' accounts, got thrown out when it was clear he was shocked and then ended up being visited the following morning in his bedroom by PO inspectors, and being told he had a £44k deficit! Which his wife ended up doing time for. And then the visitor log for the time he visited mysteriously went missing. I was open mouthed that ITV got that past the lawyers with its implication that he was targeted for knowing too much.

I actually think the PO (as it currently exists) might fold off the back of this.

I hope heads will roll for this and I hope the powers that be take a good look at Fujitsu and the lawyers involved in supporting the Post Office's prosecutions as well as at the Post Office itself. And all those people in positions of authority or influence who didn't scrutinise what was going on and took the Post Office's word for it (that includes MPs and Govt Ministers)