Latest news with #HorizonSoftware
NHK
a day ago
- Business
- NHK
Inquiry of British Post Office scandal calls for 'restorative justice' program
A British inquiry has called for a "restorative justice" program for Post Office workers wrongly convicted due to a flawed accounting system supplied by a subsidiary of Japanese electronics firm Fujitsu. More than 900 British post office branch operators and other staff were prosecuted on theft and other charges between 1999 and 2015 after the software wrongly indicated shortfalls of cash. A British court recognized the defect in the software, Horizon, in 2019. Last year, the country enacted a law to exonerate and compensate all victims of the scandal. So far, about 1.49 billion dollars has been paid to claimants. On Tuesday, the independent inquiry released its first report. The report says all people who have been wrongly convicted and those who have been held responsible are victims of "wholly unacceptable" behavior perpetrated by the Post Office and Fujitsu. It says that there are currently about 10,000 eligible claimants in the schemes providing financial compensation. The report calls on the British government to "devise a process for providing financial redress to close family members of those most adversely affected by Horizon." It also urges Fujitsu, the government and the Post Office to publish a report on a program for restorative justice by the end of October. Fujitsu and the British government have already agreed to start talks on compensation for victims. Following the report's release, Fujitsu expressed its remorse and offered an apology. It said it hopes the issue will be quickly settled with fair redress for victims. The company pledged full cooperation with investigations, and said it will discuss its contributions to compensation with the British government.
Japan Times
a day ago
- Business
- Japan Times
U.K. post office scandal may have caused 13 suicides: inquiry
Thirteen people caught up in a faulty accounting software scandal at British Post Office branches may have killed themselves and 59 more contemplated doing so, a public inquiry report published Tuesday said. The Post Office wrongfully prosecuted around 1,000 subpostmasters — self-employed branch managers — between 1999 and 2015. Errors in tech giant Fujitsu's Legacy Horizon accounting software incorrectly made it appear that money was missing from their accounts. Many ended up bankrupt after being forced by the Post Office to pay back the missing funds. Some were jailed. Dozens who were later exonerated died without ever seeing their names cleared. Inquiry chair Wyn Williams said that there was a "real possibility" that 13 people killed themselves as a result of their ordeal. Ten people attempted to take their own lives and 59 contemplated it, the report into the scandal found. Many of the prosecutions took place after questions were raised about the software's reliability. Police are investigating possible fraud committed during the scandal. "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," Williams said in the report. "Yet ... the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate," he added. A "number of senior" people at the Post Office were aware the system was capable of error before it was changed in 2010, he said. Welcoming the findings, former branch manager Jo Hamilton said the report showed "the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us." Williams described the picture of the scandal that had emerged as "profoundly disturbing." "Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment. Many people have inevitably suffered emotional turmoil and significant stress. "Many businesses and homes have been lost. Bankruptcies have occurred, marriage and families have been wrecked," he said. Among those who gave evidence to the inquiry was former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells who was quizzed about what she knew and when. Vennells broke down in tears when recalling the case of one man who took his own life after being wrongly accused over a £39,000 ($49,537) shortfall at his branch. The long-running saga hit the headlines after the broadcast in January 2024 of a television drama about the managers' ordeal, which generated a wave of sympathy and outrage. Fujitsu's European director Paul Patterson told a parliamentary committee later that the firm, which assisted the Post Office in prosecutions using flawed data from the software, was "truly sorry" for "this appalling miscarriage of justice." Many of those involved are still battling for compensation. The government's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said last month that 7,569 claims out of the 11,208 received had now been paid, leaving 3,709 still to be settled. Alan Bates, a former branch manager who led the fight for justice, has said the compensation process has "turned into quasi-kangaroo courts." Bates, who was awarded a knighthood by King Charles III for his campaign to highlight the scandal, told the Sunday Times newspaper in May the DBT "sits in judgment of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses." Post Office Minister Gareth Thomas said last month the government had made it a priority to speed up the delivery of compensation since taking office in July 2024.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
At least 13 may have killed themselves over UK's Post Office wrongful convictions scandal
LONDON (AP) — At least 13 people were thought to have taken their own lives as a result of Britain's Post Office scandal, in which almost 1,000 postal employees were wrongly prosecuted or convicted of criminal wrongdoing because of a faulty computer system, a report said Tuesday. Another 59 people contemplated suicide over the scandal, one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in U.K. history. From around 1999 to 2015, hundreds of people who worked at Post Office branches were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting, with some imprisoned and others forced into bankruptcy. Some lost their homes, while others suffered health problems or breakdowns in their relationships or became ostracized by their communities. Retired judge Wyn Williams, who chairs a public inquiry into the scandal, said in a report published Tuesday that 13 people killed themselves as a consequence of a faulty Post Office accounting system 'showing an illusory shortfall in branch accounts,' according to their families. The problems at the Post Office, which is state-owned but operates as a private business, were known for years. But the full scale of the injustice didn't become widely known until last year, when a TV docudrama propelled the scandal to national headlines and galvanized support for victims. The culprit was software called Horizon, which the Post Office introduced 25 years ago across branches to automate sales accounting. When the software showed false account shortfalls, the Post Office accused branch managers of dishonesty and obliged them to repay the money. In all, the report said that about 1,000 people were prosecuted and convicted based on evidence from the faulty system. The government has since introduced legislation to reverse the convictions and compensate the victims. Jo Hamilton, a former Post Office manager and a lead campaigner, said that the report 'shows the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us.' Tuesday's report was the first to be published from the inquiry, which is expected to issue a further report at a later date that will potentially attribute blame.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Post Office scandal report ‘shows full scale of horror unleashed on victims'
A report into the Post Office Horizon scandal 'shows the full scale of the horror' unleashed on people just trying to do a day's work, a former subpostmistress has said. Jo Hamilton was falsely prosecuted for a shortfall of £36,000 at her Post Office branch in South Warnborough, Hampshire, in 2006. A first tranche of the public inquiry's final report into the scandal, published on Tuesday, laid bare the devastating consequences for victims and their families, from police investigations to convictions and imprisonment. Between 1999 and 2015, approximately 1,000 subpostmasters were prosecuted after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts. The report said 59 victims of the scandal contemplated suicide with 10 attempting to take their own lives. Inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams said there was a 'real possibility' 13 people took their own lives as a result of the suffering they endured during the scandal. Other details in the report detailed impacts including bankruptcy and relationship breakdowns. Speaking following the report's publication, Ms Hamilton – who was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for services to justice – said it is 'really important'. She added: 'It shows the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us. You know, we were just decent people trying to do a day's work for our community.' Sir Wyn, who said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims, urged the Government to establish a public body to devise, administer and deliver compensation to those wronged by authorities. Ms Hamilton said that was a 'necessary' recommendation which she would like to see implemented immediately. 'The Government shouldn't be anywhere near this because they actually owned the Post Office which perpetrated the crime and they must have been aware what was going on. So I think they should be taken out of it altogether.' Asked about her hopes for the future, she said: 'I have a sneaky feeling that this will run right through next year, because that's the way things are, but I really hope not, because so many people are dying. 'You know, we've lost, I think 350 is the number, and 100 of the GLO (Group Litigation Order) group aren't here any more, and there's still 138 of them to be paid which is incredible.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Post Office scandal report ‘shows full scale of horror unleashed on victims'
A report into the Post Office Horizon scandal 'shows the full scale of the horror' unleashed on people just trying to do a day's work, a former subpostmistress has said. Jo Hamilton was falsely prosecuted for a shortfall of £36,000 at her Post Office branch in South Warnborough, Hampshire, in 2006. A first tranche of the public inquiry's final report into the scandal, published on Tuesday, laid bare the devastating consequences for victims and their families, from police investigations to convictions and imprisonment. Between 1999 and 2015, approximately 1,000 subpostmasters were prosecuted after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts. The report said 59 victims of the scandal contemplated suicide with 10 attempting to take their own lives. Inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams said there was a 'real possibility' 13 people took their own lives as a result of the suffering they endured during the scandal. Other details in the report detailed impacts including bankruptcy and relationship breakdowns. Speaking following the report's publication, Ms Hamilton said it is 'really important'. She added: 'It shows the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us. You know, we were just decent people trying to do a day's work for our community.' Sir Wyn, who said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims, urged the Government to establish a public body to devise, administer and deliver compensation to those wronged by authorities. Ms Hamilton said that was a 'necessary' recommendation which she would like to see implemented immediately. 'The Government shouldn't be anywhere near this because they actually owned the Post Office which perpetrated the crime and they must have been aware what was going on. So I think they should be taken out of it altogether.' Asked about her hopes for the future, she said: 'I have a sneaky feeling that this will run right through next year, because that's the way things are, but I really hope not, because so many people are dying. 'You know, we've lost, I think 350 is the number, and 100 of the GLO (Group Litigation Order) group aren't here any more, and there's still 138 of them to be paid which is incredible.'
