First tranche of final report from Horizon scandal inquiry to be published
Many were wrongly convicted of crimes such as theft and false accounting after faulty Horizon software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.
Subpostmasters' lives were destroyed – with some bankrupted by legal action and sent to prison.
On Tuesday, the first volume of the Horizon IT inquiry's final report will be published – covering the devastating impact on the lives of the scandal's victims and the compensation process.
The issue of financial redress has frequently been flagged as an issue by subpostmasters – with many still awaiting full compensation.
The various compensation schemes have been criticised by victims as unfair and difficult to navigate – processes which lead campaigner Sir Alan Bates has previously described as 'quasi-kangaroo courts'.
Retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, the chairman of the probe, will make a public statement following the report's publication.
The inquiry was established in 2020, with a number of witnesses giving evidence on the use of Fujitsu's Horizon system, Post Office governance and the legal action taken against subpostmasters.
In a previous statement addressing the compensation schemes, the Department for Business and Trade said: 'This Government has quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters to provide them with full and fair redress, with more than £1 billion having now been paid to over 7,300 claimants.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
16 minutes ago
- Metro
Wagner Group 'proxies' carried out arson on Ukraine-linked warehouse in London
Three men acting on the orders of Russia's terrorist Wagner Group have been found guilty of an arson attack that resulted in around £1 million of damage to a warehouse. The 'proxies' for Vladimir Putin's regime set were apparently motivated by the lure of cash when they set two units linked to Ukraine ablaze in east London on March 20 last year. Nii Mensah, 23, livestreamed on his phone as he and Jakeem Rose, 23, set fire to the industrial unit while fixer Ugnius Asmena, 20, waited in a car, the Old Bailey was told. Dylan Earl, 20, who had established contact with the notorious private military group, orchestrated the attack along with Gatwick airport cleaner Jake Reeves, 23. They targeted the warehouse in Leyton because it was being used to supply humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine. Meeting in a restaurant and wine shop in Mayfair, Earl and Reeves went on to plot more attacks and the kidnapping of the establishment's owner, the wealthy Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin. They previously admitted aggravated arson on behalf of the Wagner, becoming the first defendants to be convicted of acting as proxies for the formation under the National Security Act 2023. Earl has also admitted possessing cocaine and thousands of pounds in criminal cash. Following an Old Bailey trial, Mensah, Rose and Asmena were today found guilty of aggravated arson with intent to endanger life. Driver Paul English, 61, was cleared of wrongdoing. Ashton Evans, 20, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to the Mayfair plot but cleared of failing to tell authorities about the warehouse arson. Dmirjus Paulauskas, 23, was cleared of two similar offences relating to both terrorist plots after the jury deliberated for nearly 22 hours. Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said: 'This case is clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using 'proxies', in this case British men, to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf. 'The ringleaders, Earl and Reeves, willingly acted as hostile agents on behalf of the Russian state. 'I am pleased that, working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, we were able to use the new National Security Act legislation, which meant the severity of Earl and Reeves's offending was reflected in the charges they faced. The warehouse arson put members of the public at great risk, and it was only by good fortune nobody was seriously injured or worse. 'Those involved showed little or no regard for the potential impact of their actions on the UK's wider security. 'Seemingly motivated by the promise of money, they were prepared to commit criminal acts on behalf of Russia. 'I hope these convictions send a strong warning of the very serious consequences of committing offences on behalf of a foreign country.' Both businesses in the damaged units were Ukrainian-owned. Initially, local Met Officers investigated before it emerged that another warehouse in Madrid linked to one of the companies had been subject to an arson attack. Detectives from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command then took over the investigation. They gathered 'overwhelming' evidence linking the arsonists to the Leyton attack, the court was told. The trio were tracked by phone data and traffic cameras as Mr English drove them in his Kia Picanto through south London and the scene of the fire, which was covered by CCTV. More footage captured Rose and Mensah getting out of the vehicle, climbing over a wall and approaching the warehouses. As they fled the scene, Rose dropped a very large knife with his DNA on it, with Mensah later messaging Reeves to say 'L9 (Rose's nickname) left his Rambo at the scene'. Sixty firefighters from eight crews had to get the blaze under control. Afterwards, Mensah messaged Earl: 'Bro there was bare smoke … You saw it on Face Time.' Later, he added: 'Bro lol it's on the news … we dun damagees [sic].' While the arsonists were motivated by the promise of money, Earl and Reeves had orchestrated it for Russia, Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC said. Earl had told a Wagner operative he met on Telegram he was keen to carry out a series of 'missions', of which the Leyton fire was to be just the first. Reeves was also prepared to accept money from a foreign intelligence service to target the Russian dissident and his London-based businesses next, the jury was told. Earl admitted preparing to set fire to the Hide Restaurant and Hedonism Wines in Mayfair, west London, and kidnapping owner Mr Chichvarkin on behalf of the Wagner Group. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The court was told the two Mayfair businesses targeted by Wagner employed 200 people and were valued at more than £30 million. Mr Chichvarkin was described as a 'high-profile Russian dissident and refugee' who has been vocal in his criticism of Putin and the war in Ukraine. On April 5 2024, Reeves, from Croydon, south London, sent an unknown contact Mr Chichvarkin's name and said he would make an 'amazing target'. Earl was also in the plot, raising the possibility of 'exiling him back to Russia to face prison' according to police. In chat, Earl's Wagner contact, named Privet Bot, instructed him to watch the period drama The Americans and use it as a 'manual' for his covert mission. The television series is set during the Cold War and is about two KGB agents posing as Americans in Washington DC to spy on the American government. In further chat with Privet Bot, wholesale drug dealer Earl appeared to brag that he had criminal connections, saying he could 'sort' an introduction to the IRA and Kinahan Irish organised crime group. He was arrested in a B&Q car park in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and videos of the warehouse fire being started were found on his iPhone. In a search of his home in Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, police recovered a Russian flag, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of some £34,000. Evidence on his phone revealed details of a cryptocurrency account holding more than £58,000 and images of bundles of cash estimated to total £175,000. Following Reeves's arrest at Croydon East railway station, police uncovered videos on his phone which were taken by Mensah on the night of the arson attack. Giving evidence, Asmena, of no fixed address, denied being aware of the arson attack or hiring Mr English as the driver, telling jurors he was 'just there'. Mensah, of Thornton Heath, and Rose, from Croydon, had admitted arson and Rose also pleaded guilty to possessing a blade. However, both claimed the prosecution had failed to prove the fire had endangered life. Mr English, of Roehampton, told police upon his arrest that he had been paid £500 by Asmena to drive but knew nothing about the fire. Evans, from Newport, Gwent, told jurors that he had got in touch with Earl to buy cocaine, which he admitted having. He claimed not to take what Earl told him seriously and went along with it to get his money back after buying drugs that were not the genuine article. Aviation engineering student Mr Paulauskus, from Croydon, told jurors he had been doing work experience at an aircraft maintenance hangar, was interested in gaming and was a 'gun nerd'. More Trending Born in Lithuania, he holds a joint British and Russian passport and believed that the war with Russia was Ukraine's fault. He told jurors that he had been friends with Reeves since secondary school but did not believe anything he told him about the plots was real. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the convicted defendants would be sentenced on a date to be fixed in the autumn. Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact MORE: Ex-Russian supermodel and Putin critic reveals she's on Kremlin's hitlist MORE: The shadowy Russian military firms vying for power after Wagner mutiny MORE: 'Liquidated' Prigozhin took world back to medieval-style warfare
Metro
16 minutes ago
- Metro
13 people driven to suicide by the Post Office Horizon scandal, inquiry finds
The Post Office Horizon scandal likely drove at least 13 people to suicide, the public inquiry has found. Chairman Sir Wyn Williams said a further 59 victims considered taking their own life after being accused of wrongdoing based the faulty software. A first tranche of the public inquiry's final report into the scandal laid bare the devastating consequences for victims and their families, from police investigations to convictions and imprisonment. Sir Wyn said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims following what has been dubbed as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history. It is thought approximately 1,000 people have been wrongly prosecuted and convicted across the UK between 1999 and 2015, with somewhere between 50 and 60 people prosecuted but not convicted, he said. Those who walked free from court still faced being 'ostracised in their local community', the report noted. Lead campaigner and former subpostmistress Jo Hamilton said the report 'shows the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us'. The scandal was propelled into the spotlight in January last year following the airing of ITV's drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, starring actor Toby Jones about Sir Alan Bates, former sub-postmaster and founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance. Ex-Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells is accused of overseeing a huge number of wrongful prosecutions and convictions, and was in post at the time Sir Wyn said bosses should have known Horizon was faulty. The chairman's 162-page report criticised the 'unnecessarily adversarial attitude' of the Post Office and its advisers towards making compensation offers to victims and that the organisation and the Government 'simply failed to grasp how difficult it would be to provide appropriate financial redress'. Sir Wyn's report said 59 victims of the scandal contemplated suicide with 10 attempting to take their own lives. The retired judge said there was a 'real possibility' 13 people took their own lives as a result of the suffering they endured. He said: 'I should stress that whilst I cannot make a definitive finding that there is a causal connection between the deaths of all 13 persons and Horizon, I do not rule it out as a real possibility. 'It is also possible that more than 13 persons, as indicated by the Post Office in response to the inquiry's requests in March 2025, died by suicide but that some deaths have not been reported to the Post Office or the inquiry.' Martin Griffiths deliberately stepped in front of an oncoming bus on September 23, 2013. He had begun to suffer shortfalls in branch accounts in 2009 and, in the four years which followed, sought assistance from the IT helpdesk without success, the report said, adding that he was given notice in July 2013 that his postmaster contract was to be terminated. A Post Office investigator had advised the Post Office that Mr Griffiths was partly to blame for the loss incurred from a robbery – during which he was injured – at his Hope Farm Post Office branch in Cheshire in May 2013, the report said. His death, aged 59, 'was and remains devastating for his wife, children and other close family', it added. Sir Wyn wrote: 'Nearly all the persons interviewed under caution by Post Office investigators will have been in wholly unfamiliar territory and they will have found the experience to be troubling at best and harrowing at worst.' Teasing his conclusions for the final overarching report, which is still likely to be some months away, Sir Wyn said: 'Although many of the individuals who gave evidence before me were very reluctant to accept it, I am satisfied from the evidence that I have heard that 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. 'Yet for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of Legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate.' He made a total of 19 recommendations as part of his report, including that the Government and the Post Office should make a public announcement about what they mean by 'full and fair redress'. In a statement issued after the publication of the report, Sir Wyn said he is 'critical' of the Post Office and the Government for the 'development and evolution' of the compensation schemes. He also said the main scheme, the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), had been subjected to 'egregious delays'. In his recommendations, Sir Wyn said claimants who apply for compensation as part of HSS, should be entitled to free legal advice. The chairman also addressed criticism of another scheme, the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, saying claimants should be entitled to the £600,000 fixed offer even if they submit their own detailed individual claim. The first volume of the Post Office inquiry's final report has published 19 recommendations. Here is a summary of the main recommendations: – The Government and the Post Office should make a public announcement explaining their meaning of the phrase 'full and fair financial redress'. – The Government and the Post Office should make sure all decision-makers across the compensation schemes apply the meaning of 'full and fair' when considering amounts awarded to claimants. – Claimants who are part of the main redress scheme, the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), should be entitled to free legal advice. – Claimants across all schemes should have the option to accept fixed offers regardless of whether they have made an individual detailed claim or not. – A senior lawyer should be appointed to HSS to ensure offers are full and fair and made promptly. – No claims for redress under HSS should be considered after midnight on November 27, 2025. – The Government should establish a public body to administer and deliver schemes for providing redress to people wronged by public bodies. – The Government should devise a redress process for close family members affected by the Horizon scandal. – The Government, Fujitsu and the Post Office should publish a report outlining a programme of restorative justice. – The Government, Post Office and Fujitsu should respond to the recommendations by October 10. Sir Wyn urged the Government to establish a public body to devise, administer and deliver compensation to those wronged by authorities. The report said the number of people eligible to submit compensation claims as part of the scandal is likely to rise 'by at least hundreds, if not more, over the coming months'. In a statement, the Post Office said: 'The inquiry has brought to life the devastating stories of those impacted by the Horizon Scandal. 'Their experiences represent a shameful period in our history. 'Today, we apologise unreservedly for the suffering which Post Office caused to postmasters and their loved ones. 'We will carefully consider the report and its recommendations.' Chairman Nigel Railton vowed to 'do everything in my power to make sure that affected postmasters receive the redress they are entitled to, as soon as possible'. Business minister Gareth Thomas said the government is 'sympathetic' to Sir Wyn's recommendations. He told the Commons: 'Blameless people were impoverished, bankrupted, stressed beyond belief, lost their jobs, their marriages, their reputations, their mental health, in some cases lost their lives.' More Trending Mr Thomas later added: 'To be clear, I am very sympathetic to Sir Wyn's 19 recommendations today. 'Clearly, a number of them require careful consideration. 'We will respond to them properly, as some concern the ongoing delivery of Horizon redress schemes. 'Sir Wyn has set us a deadline of October 10, and we will beat it.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: First picture of man who was stabbed to death outside of Wetherspoon pub MORE: School in lockdown in Liverpool after man in balaclava fires shots outside MORE: Four women 'sexually assaulted by masseur' during treatments at luxury spa
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Fujitsu getting away ‘scot-free' from Horizon scandal, says postmaster
A Scottish postmaster who was wrongly convicted under the Horizon scandal says Fujitsu is getting away 'scot-free' from its role in the affair. Rab Thomson welcomed the first tranche of Sir Wyn Williams' final report, which was released in London on Tuesday. Mr Thomson spent around 20 years fighting to clear his name after being accused of theft. The 65-year-old, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, was one of the first to have his conviction overturned and was able to do so in advance of a special law being passed at the Scottish Parliament to exonerate Horizon victims. Mr Thomson's mother had worked at the Post Office for 30 years and the accusation of theft against him came a few years after he took over the business. He told the PA news agency: 'I feel quite emotional.. 'There's other stories in there worse than mine, don't get me wrong, but it's heartbreaking for it to come to this length – it's going to drag on to March next year.' He said he had been particularly emotional about the part of the report relating to himself and his mother. Mr Thomson said he and his mother did not speak for a year after the allegation of theft was made against him. He said his mother kept herself in her house following the allegation up until her death, saying: 'People were talking behind her back – 'her son stole from the Post Office'. 'But none of the people that accused me of stealing, some of them have not even come forward and apologised. 'So I don't know how they're feeling, maybe guilt I don't know.' Mr Thomson added: 'If I can get a victory over this, compensation-wise for people out there who haven't had a penny yet and get them as much as we possibly can, then hopefully my mum's up there and she'll be smiling on me.' He welcomed the report but had one caveat, saying: 'The only problem I see is, I don't know why we're not taking on Fujitsu? 'Why is Sir Wynn not taking on Fujitsu? Because at the end of the day it's them that's brought this crisis to us – at the moment they've got away scot-free.' In April, Mr Thomson and others launched the Scottish Postmasters for Justice and Redress (SPJR) group. He has encouraged other Scots affected by the issue to seek redress. Fujitsu has already acknowledged it has a 'moral obligation' to contribute to compensation for those affected by the scandal, pending the outcome of Sir Wyn Williams' inquiry. Commenting on the report, SNP MP Chris Law said: ' Westminster is still dragging its heels in delivering fair compensation and it is essential that the Labour government immediately removes every bureaucratic barrier and blockade so that these victims finally get the justice they so badly need. 'The starkness of this report lays bare the tragedies, and even the loss of life, that came about as a direct result of this scandal. 'After decades of failures and cover-ups by successive Westminster governments, Fujitsu and the Post Office, hundreds of people who worked hard for local communities have been made to fight far too long for justice – there must be no more delays from this UK Labour government.'
