Latest news with #JusticeForVictims
Japan Times
5 days 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.
News.com.au
30-06-2025
- News.com.au
Bombshell update in murder of four Idaho students
Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger has reportedly accepted a plea deal in order to avoid the death penalty. Kohberger will now plead guilty to the brutal killing of four American students in their own home in Idaho, according to reports. A life sentence is also part of the plea deal, which was first reported by NewsNation reporter Brian Entin on Monday evening. He must reportedly spend the rest of his life locked up with no possibility of parole and must waive his right to appeal. A court hearing over the bombshell U-turn is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Kohberger's trial had been scheduled to start on August 18. The family of one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, expressed their anger in a statement. 'It's true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us,' the family said. 'Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support.'
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Post Office scandal redress must not only be fair - it must be fast
"Exonerate and acknowledge" say victims of the Post Office Capture scandal. And it's easy to see why patience is wearing thin. To understand what happened with Capture, you must first understand . Both scandals centre not on flawed software alone, but how the Post Office reacted to it. A business that used its powers to privately prosecute sub-postmasters, forcing them to pay back unexplained accounting shortfalls. Any suggestion that the system itself was at fault was dismissed. Capture is not a separate scandal - it's part of the same one. That's why Capture victims now want "parity" with Horizon victims when it comes to redress and exoneration. "It should now be a given," says Steve Lewis, who was sacked from his job as a sub-postmaster after raising concerns about shortfalls linked to Capture software. The government has . But Steve wants proposed interim payments to be "paid swiftly due to demographics, age, and well-being of the Capture group". And beyond compensation lie even more urgent demands: for those wrongfully convicted under Capture to be exonerated. Many of these individuals remain ineligible for redress, their names still tarnished. They're calling for blanket exonerations - just as in the Horizon scandal - to finally quash their convictions. The judiciary will push back, undoubtedly, against this. Read more: But, as Steve puts it, "time is not on our side" for redress and exoneration. Too many Capture victims have already died without ever knowing justice - as have many Horizon victims. If governments have learned anything over the years, it's this: justice delayed is justice denied. Redress must not only be fair - it must be fast.
