Horizon (IT system)

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Short description: Computer system used by the UK post office


Horizon is a computer system used by part of the United Kingdom's postal service, Post Office Ltd. In 2013 the system was being used by at least 11,500 branches, and was processing some six million transactions every day.[1]

Horizon was introduced in 1999[2], and from then onwards unexplained discrepancies and losses began to be reported by sub-postmasters. The Post Office maintained that Horizon was "robust" and that none of the shortfalls or discrepancies in sub-postmasters' branch accounts were due to problems caused by Horizon.[3] Sub-postmasters unwilling or unable to make good the shortfalls were sometimes prosecuted (by the Post Office's in-house prosecution team) for theft, false accounting and/or fraud. This was done on IT evidence alone, without proof of criminal intent. Despite this, some sub-postmasters were successfully persuaded by their own solicitors to plead guilty to false accounting, on being told the Post Office would drop theft charges. Once the Post Office had a criminal conviction, it would attempt to secure a Proceeds of Crime Act Order against convicted sub-postmasters, allowing it to seize their assets and bankrupt them.[4] According to press reports, these actions by the Post Office caused the loss of dozens of jobs, bankruptcy, divorce, unwarranted prison sentences and one documented suicide.[5]

In 2019 the Horizon Issues trial judgment in the Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd group litigation at the High Court found that bugs, errors and defects did exist and that it was possible for these to cause apparent discrepancies or shortfalls in branch accounts or transactions, and to undermine the reliability of Horizon accurately to process and to record transactions. Mr Justice Fraser found that this had happened on numerous occasions.[6]

In September 2020, the Post Office declared it would not oppose 44 postmasters' appeals against conviction.[7] In December 2020 six convictions were quashed,[8] and in April 2021 the Court of Appeal quashed a further 39 people's convictions.[9] The BBC called the convictions "the UK's most widespread miscarriage of justice".[10]

In April 2021 Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read announced that the Horizon system would be replaced with a new cloud-based IT system.[11]

Purpose and design

The system cost £1 billion and was designed by ICL/Fujitsu Services.[12][13] According to Post Office Ltd, the name Horizon encompasses:

  • the software, both bespoke and software packages[14]
  • the computer hardware and communications equipment installed in branch and the central data centres[14]
  • the software used to control and monitor the systems[14]
  • the testing and training systems[14]

The system was originally introduced in 1995 on a pilot basis in a small number of post offices, alongside a joint work programme between the Department of Social Security's Benefits Agency and Post Office Counters Ltd. The objective of this programme (known as the BA/POCL Programme) was to provide an automated system for making benefits payments through post offices and thereby reduce fraud.

At the Conservative Party conference in October 1995, the social security minister Peter Lilley brandished a smartcard as the intended replacement for the benefit book, declaring that, with the Benefits Agency and ICL, Post Office Counters Ltd would install smartcard reading terminals at every branch, through a private finance initiative (PFI) to be delivered under a commercial contract. At the time smartcards were under consideration as part of the full system, but a final choice of technologies had not been made.

After a lengthy competitive procurement exercise which began in late 1994, the contract for further development and full implementation in all post offices was awarded in May 1996 to ICL's Pathway division, which had been created for the purpose.[15] ICL later became part of Fujitsu.

In 1999, four years and £700m of taxpayers' money after the pilot scheme began, the Government, by now Labour, stopped the scheme in its tracks. The Department of Social Security withdrew from the deal, leaving ICL/Fujitsu to run the system. ICL has since criticised the PFI payment criterion: it would have been paid partly on how many customers Post Offices attracted. Stuart Sweetman, the then group managing director of customer and banking services for Consignia (the name used at the time by the then holding company for Post Office Counters Ltd, Parcelforce and Royal Mail), said in 2001: "Looking back, I think it was over-ambitious ... You can't export all the risk to a supplier."[16]

Problems

Problems with the system were first reported by Alan Bates, the sub-postmaster at Craig-y-Don, in around 2000.[17] He reported his concerns to Computer Weekly in 2004, who finally gathered sufficient evidence to publish them in 2009.[18] A campaign group on the issue, Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance (JFSA) was formed by Bates and others in September 2009.[19][20]

Initial Post Office Ltd investigation

An initial investigation failed, at first, to find the cause of the problems. As a result, an independent investigative firm Second Sight were brought in to conduct a separate, independent inquiry, in 2012.[1][19] At around this time, Paula Vennells became CEO of the Post Office.[19]

Second Sight report

In July 2013, Post Office Ltd admitted (after an interim review by Second Sight) that software defects with Horizon had indeed occurred, but that the system was effective.[1] The review discovered problems in 2011 and 2012, when Post Office Ltd discovered defects which had caused a shortfall of up to £9,000 at 76 Post Office branches.[1] However, more than 150 sub-postmasters continued to raise issues with the system, which they claimed had, by error, put them in debt by tens of thousands of pounds, and that in some cases they lost their contracts or went to prison.[1][21]

The report – which was treated as confidential – described the Horizon system as, in some cases, "not fit for purpose".[21][22] The lead investigator for Second Sight claimed that there were about 12,000 communication failures every year, with software defects at 76 branches and old and unreliable hardware.[12] The system had, according to the report, not been tracking money from lottery terminals, tax disc sales or cash machines – and the initial Post Office Ltd investigation had not looked for the cause of the errors, instead accusing the sub-postmasters of theft.[21] The report was dismissed by the Post Office.[23] However, it was leaked to the BBC in September 2014. The BBC's article on the report also said that training on the system was not good enough, that "equipment was outdated", and that "power cuts and communication problems made things worse".[21]

Post Office Ltd then went into mediation with the affected sub-postmasters.[21] By December, however, MPs had criticised Post Office Ltd for how it handled the sub-postmasters' claims, and 140 of those affected had withdrawn their support for the Post Office-run mediation scheme.[24] 144 MPs had been contacted by sub-postmasters about the issue, and James Arbuthnot, the MP leading on the matter, accused the organisation of rejecting 90% of applications for mediation.[24] Post Office Ltd said that the claims by Arbuthnot were "regrettable and surprising".[24] Arbuthnot further claimed that Post Office Ltd had been "duplicitous", and said that:[13]

I do not want to build up hopes that the other methods are going to be more successful than the current ones, so I will not be specific – but it will involve legal and political campaigns.

In February 2015, ComputerWorld UK, a UK trade magazine for IT managers, reported that Post Office Ltd were obstructing the investigation by refusing to hand over key files to Second Sight.[12] Post Office Ltd (Angela van den Bogerd) claimed in the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee hearing of 3 February 2015[25][26][27] that they "have been working with Second Sight over the last few weeks on what we agreed at the outset. We have been providing the information", but the lead investigator for Second Sight, when asked by Adrian Bailey if that were the case, said "No, it is not", as he had not been given access to prosecution files, which he needed to back up his suspicions that Post Office Ltd had brought cases against sub-postmasters with "inadequate investigation and inadequate evidence".[12] He said that these files were still outstanding eighteen months after they had been requested.[13]

Investigation cancelled

In March 2015, Private Eye and other sources reported that Post Office Ltd had ordered Second Sight to end their investigation just one day before the report was due to be published, and to destroy all the paperwork which they had not handed over.[5][13] Post Office Ltd then scrapped the independent committee set up to oversee the investigation, as well as the mediation scheme for sub-postmasters, and published a report which cleared themselves of any wrongdoing.[5]

Of the 136 cases, 56 had been closed, and Post Office Ltd would put the rest forward for "mediation" unless a court ruling prevented them from doing so.[13] After ending the inquiry, Post Office Ltd said that there were no wide-scale problems, and that:[13][28]

This has been an exhaustive and informative process which has confirmed that there are no system-wide problems with our computer system and associated processes. We will now look to resolve the final outstanding cases as quickly as possible.

Court cases

Civil action

In 2019, class action civil litigation, Bates & Others v Post Office Ltd,[29] brought by 550 sub-postmasters was settled by the Post Office.[30] Significant fees for counsel, repayment of legal financing, and payment of the legal financing "success fee" were deducted from the £58 million settlement.[31]

Mr Justice Fraser, the judge overseeing the civil action noted that the approach of the Post Office to the case

amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.

In court, Fraser criticised testimony given by Post Office witnesses. The judge said Angela van den Bogerd (Head of Partnerships, Post Office) "did not give me frank evidence, and sought to obfuscate matters, and mislead me."[32]

Fraser commented on the evidence given by Stephen Parker, Head of Post Office Application Support, Fujitsu ((As of April 2021) Senior Commercial Manager at Capgemini): "I do not consider that Mr Parker was interested in accuracy in any of his evidential exercises. ... I do not consider his evidence in his witness statements to have been remotely accurate, even though he stoutly maintained that it was."[33]

Paula Vennells (then Chief Executive, Post Office), subsequently apologised to workers affected by the scandal, saying:[34]

I am truly sorry we were unable to find both a solution and a resolution outside of litigation and for the distress this caused.

Her letter to the Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee[35] states:

The message that the Board and I were consistently given by Fujitsu, from the highest levels of the company, was that while, like any IT system, Horizon was not perfect and had a limited life-span, it was fundamentally sound.

and:

I raised this question [of whether Post Office or Fujitsu had the ability to access and alter branch information remotely] repeatedly, both internally and with Fujitsu, and was always given the same answer: that it was not possible for branch records to be altered remotely without the sub-postmaster’s knowledge. Indeed, I remember being told by Fujitsu’s then CEO when I raised it with him that the system was “like Fort Knox”.

In May 2014 Fujitsu had announced Michael Keegan's appointment as Head of Fujitsu UK & Ireland stating his experience included "senior leadership roles at the Royal Mail Group/Post Office Ltd".[36]

Michael Keegan clarified in May 2021 that Paula Vennells did not have this conversation with him as he had only met her once for 30 minutes, and Horizon was not discussed. He also stated that his previous role at the Post Office had no connection to the Horizon platform.[37] Criminal prosecutions of postmasters by the Post Office using Horizon data had ceased before Michael Keegan was appointed as CEO of Fujitsu UK and Ireland for 15 months commencing April 2014.[38]

Possibility of criminal action

In December 2019, The Register reported that Mr Justice Fraser would be passing a file on to the Director of Public Prosecutions.[39][40] A number of cases are[when?] under review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission raising the possibility of actions for malicious prosecution.[41][42]

Arbuthnot, by then sitting in the House of Lords as Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, said in November 2019:[43]

My own suggestion is that the government should clear out the entirety of the board and senior management of the Post Office and start again, perhaps with the assistance of consultancy services from Second Sight, who know where the bodies are buried.

Criminal Cases Review Commission

In March 2020 the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) decided to refer for appeal the convictions of 39 Post Office applicants. The Commission said it would be referring all those cases, which involve convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting, on the basis of the argument that each prosecution amounted to an abuse of process.[44] In May 2020 the Criminal Cases Review Commission decided to refer a further eight such convictions for appeal, bringing the total to 47.[45]

In January 2021 the CCRC decided to refer a further four people's convictions, bringing the total to 51.[46]

April 2021 appeals

In April 2021, after an appeal before three judges, Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Picken and Mrs Justice Farbey DBE, thirty nine of the convicted former postmasters had their convictions quashed,[9] with a further twenty two cases still being investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Earlier in December 2020, the convictions of six other former postmasters were overturned due to wrongful conviction.[47] The executive chairman of the legal firm representing many of the postmasters, Dr Neil Hudgell, said "now Post Office officials must face criminal investigation for maliciously ruining lives by prosecuting innocent people in pursuit of profits", and called for the Prime Minister to convene a judge-led inquiry.[48]

The Communication Workers' Union called for Vennells' appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), made in 2019 for "for services to the Post Office and to charity", to be rescinded.[49] In April 2021, after the overturning of the thirty nine convictions, Vennells resigned as a director of Dunelm and Morrisons and as an associate Church of England minister.[50]

Other enquiries

Evidence about the case was also heard by Parliament's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee on 10 March 2020.[51][52]

On 19 March 2020, in a debate in the House of Commons, Kevan Jones MP criticized former Post Office CEO, Paula Vennells, for her role in the scandal.[53]

On 26 February 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to hold an independent inquiry.[54] In a written ministerial statement on 10 June 2020 Paul Scully, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, announced the scope of the Independent Review into the Post Office Horizon IT System and Trials.[55] The inquiry, led by Sir Wyn Williams, began work in Autumn 2020 and issued a call for evidence on 1 December 2020. The first public hearing session took place on 15 January 2021[56]

Individual cases

  • Jo Hamilton, from South Warnborough in Hampshire, claims she first noticed problems with the Horizon system in 2005[57] and lost £36,000; she pleaded guilty to false accounting after trying to hide the resulting incorrect deficit.[1] She was originally charged with theft, but was told that if she repaid the money and pleaded guilty to 14 counts of false accounting, she would be less likely to go to prison.[24] At the time, she was told that she was the only person who had had these problems.[24] She pleaded guilty, and, under the terms of her contract, she paid her wages for the next ten months to Post Office Ltd, and had to remortgage her house to pay the money.[24][58] James Arbuthnot was her MP.[43]
  • Noel Thomas, a man who had worked for the Royal Mail for 42 years, spent his 60th birthday in prison as a result of the errors.[18]
  • Sarah Burgess Boyd, from Newcastle upon Tyne, said she lost her life savings in repaying an incorrect shortfall.[21]
  • Rubina Nami was jailed for 12 months in 2010 for false accounting of £43,000.[59] She and her husband fell behind on mortgage payments and in February 2013 bailiffs seized their home and changed the locks.[57][59] They slept in their van for six weeks before being given a one-bed housing association flat by the local council.[59]
  • Seema Misra was pregnant with her second child when she was convicted of theft and sent to jail in 2010. She said that she had been "suffering" for 15 years as a result of the saga.[60]
  • According to Private Eye, there has been one documented suicide in connection with the affair.[5]

Replacement

On 8 April 2021 Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read announced that the Horizon system will be replaced by a new IT system which would be "more user-friendly, easier to adapt for new products and services, and cloud-based to ensure easy maintenance and ready interoperability with other systems." In a speech to senior staff, he said:

We are already taking the first steps towards migrating off the Horizon system for good, in favour of a modern, cloud-based system which postmasters will find more intuitive and easier to operate.

This will not be easy – it will after all be among the biggest, if not the biggest, IT roll-out in the country when the time comes.

But the change is both necessary and overdue, and it begins now.

In the same speech, Read called on the government to properly compensate victims of the Horizon scandal.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Prodger, Matt (8 July 2013). "Bug found in Post Office row computer system". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23233573. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 
  2. ↑ Peachey, Kevin (23 Apr 2021). "Convicted Post Office workers have names cleared". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56859357. Retrieved 23 Apr 2021. 
  3. ↑ "Judgment (No.3) "Common Issues" (Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd)". 15 March 2019. p. 312. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/bates-v-post-office-judgment-no3-15-mar-19.pdf. 
  4. ↑ Wallis, Nick (10 August 2019). "What's this all about?". https://www.postofficetrial.com/2019/08/whats-this-all-about.html. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "How to suppress a scandal, Pt 94," Private Eye, issue 1388 - Archived page Original
  6. ↑ "Judgment (No.6) "Horizon Issues" (Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd)". 16 December 2019. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/bates-v-post-office-judgment.pdf. 
  7. ↑ "Post Office won't block appeals of 44 wrongfully convicted Horizon scandal postmasters". 2 October 2020. https://news.sky.com/story/post-office-wont-block-appeals-of-33-wrongfully-convicted-horizon-scandal-postmasters-12087598. 
  8. ↑ "Former Post Office sub-postmasters have convictions over IT scandal quashed". 11 December 2020. https://news.sky.com/story/former-post-office-sub-postmasters-have-convictions-over-it-scandal-quashed-12158093. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Josephine Hamilton & Others v Post Office Limited judgment, Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)". 23 April 2021. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Hamilton-Others-v-Post-Office-judgment-230421.pdf. 
  10. ↑ "Convicted Post Office workers have names cleared" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2021-04-23. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56859357. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Wallis, Nick (13 April 2021). "Nick Read calls on government to compensate Subpostmasters". https://www.postofficetrial.com/2021/04/nick-reads-speech-to-troops.html. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Jee, Charlotte (3 February 2015). "Post Office obstructing Horizon probe, investigator claims". Computerworld UK. http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3596589/post-office-obstructing-horizon-probe-investigator-claims/.  Archived from original, 27 April
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Flinders, Karl (11 March 2015). "Post Office ends working group for IT system investigation day before potentially damaging report". http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240242064/Post-Office-ends-IT-system-investigation-day-before-potentially-damning-report. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Post Office Limited Horizon System". 31 May 2011. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/post_office_limited_horizon_syst. 
  15. ↑ "Pathway and the Post Office: the lessons learned". Computer Weekly. http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Pathway-and-the-Post-Office-the-lessons-learned. 
  16. ↑ Mathieson, SA (26 July 2001). "Smallest post office gets net". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2001/jul/26/internetnews.onlinesupplement1. 
  17. ↑ Glick, Bryan (11 December 2019). "Vilified then vindicated - victory for subpostmasters in Post Office trial shows risk of tech hubris - Computer Weekly Editor's Blog". Computer Weekly. https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Computer-Weekly-Editors-Blog/Vilified-then-vindicated-victory-for-subpostmasters-in-Post-Office-trial-shows-risk-of-tech-hubris. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Thomson, Rebecca (11 May 2009). "Bankruptcy, prosecution and disrupted livelihoods - Postmasters tell their story" (in en). Computer Weekly. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240089230/Bankruptcy-prosecution-and-disrupted-livelihoods-Postmasters-tell-their-story. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Glass, Katie. "Victims of the Post Office’s sub-postmaster scandal on their decade of hell". https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/victims-of-the-post-office-s-subpostmaster-scandal-on-their-decade-of-hell-gmwgl0pq7. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  20. ↑ Thomson, Rebecca (28 September 2009). "Post-masters form action group after accounts shortfall" (in en). Computer Weekly. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280090846/Post-masters-form-action-group-after-accounts-shortfall. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 "Post Office IT system criticised in report". BBC News. 9 September 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29130897. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 
  22. ↑ Nguyen, Anh (10 September 2014). "Some Post Office Horizon IT was 'unfit for purpose', investigators say". Computerworld UK. http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3544550/some-post-office-horizon-it-was-unfit-for-purpose-investigators-say/. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 
  23. ↑ Flinders, Karl (26 November 2019). "Peer calls for clear-out of Post Office board after Court of Appeal confirms major court defeat" (in en). Computer Weekly. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252474583/Peer-suggests-clear-out-of-Post-Office-board-after-Court-of-Appeal-confirms-major-defeat-in-court. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 Prodger, Matt (9 December 2014). "MPs attack Post Office sub-postmaster mediation scheme". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30387973. Retrieved 29 September 2015. 
  25. ↑ "Post Office Mediation scheme and the Horizon IT system". UK parliament. 3 February 2015. https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/news/97254/post-office-mediation-scheme-and-the-horizon-it-system/. Retrieved 23 April 2021. 
  26. ↑ https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/d05cb9e7-04d0-4d05-8a43-ddd74b1eecc0
  27. ↑ https://www.jfsa.org.uk/uploads/5/4/3/1/54312921/17926_1.pdf
  28. ↑ "IT system working, says Post Office". Express & Star. 10 March 2015. https://www.expressandstar.com/business/city-news/2015/03/10/it-system-working-says-post-office/. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 
  29. ↑ Case No: HQ16X01238, HQ17X02637 and HQ17X04248
  30. ↑ Sawer, P. (2019-12-11). "Post Office agrees to pay subpostmasters £58m compensation over false accusations of theft". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/11/post-office-ordered-pay-subpostmasters-58m-compensation-false/. Retrieved 2019-12-12. 
  31. ↑ Gompertz, S (2019-12-11). "Victory against Post Office one of the best days of my life: Analysis". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50741916. Retrieved 2019-12-12. 
  32. ↑ Gwyn Loader (3 December 2020). "FAW appoints Post Office director who 'misled court'". BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55181709. Retrieved 20 April 2021. 
  33. ↑ "Fujitsu tries to dodge the blame bus". 26 June 2020. https://www.postofficetrial.com/2020/06/fujitsu-tries-to-dodge-blame-bus.html. Retrieved 20 April 2021. 
  34. ↑ "Paula Vennells apologises for the first time". 24 December 2019. https://www.postofficetrial.com/2019/12/paula-vennells-apologises-for-first-time.html. Retrieved 20 April 2021. 
  35. ↑ Paula Vennells (24 June 2020). "Letter from Paula Vennells on Post Office and Horizon". https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1621/documents/15462/default/. Retrieved 26 April 2021. 
  36. ↑ Fujitsu (15 May 2014). "Fujitsu Appoints Michael Keegan as Head of UK and Ireland". https://www.fujitsu.com/uk/news/pr/fs_20140515.html. Retrieved 26 April 2021. 
  37. ↑ Dixon, Hayley (2021-04-30). "IT boss overseeing Post Office now in Whitehall" (in en-GB). The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/30/boss-overseeing-post-office-now-whitehall/. 
  38. ↑ "The Final Reckoning" (in en-GB). https://www.postofficetrial.com/2021/04/the-final-reckoning.html. 
  39. ↑ Corfield, Gareth (18 Dec 2019). "Post Office faces potential criminal probe over Fujitsu IT system's accounting failures" (in en). https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/18/post_office_trial_fujitsu_horizon_judgment/. 
  40. ↑ Slingo, Jemma (2019-12-16). "Post Office IT contractor faces prosecution after judge's 'grave concerns' about evidence" (in en). https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/post-office-it-contractor-faces-prosecution-after-judges-grave-concerns-about-evidence/5102540.article. 
  41. ↑ Slingo, Jemma (2019-12-16). "Post Office 'attacked and disparaged' sub postmasters, judge finds" (in en). https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/post-office-attacked-and-disparaged-sub-postmasters-judge-finds/5102542.article. 
  42. ↑ "Post Office workers win High Court ruling over faulty IT system that left them bankrupt and in prison" (in en). 2019-12-16. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/post-office-high-court-case-it-horizon-postmaster-prison-latest-a9249431.html. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Flinders, Karl (26 November 2019). "Peer calls for clear-out of Post Office board after Court of Appeal confirms major court defeat" (in en). Computer Weekly. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252474583/Peer-suggests-clear-out-of-Post-Office-board-after-Court-of-Appeal-confirms-major-defeat-in-court. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  44. ↑ "CCRC to refer 39 Post Office cases on abuse of process argument". 2020-03-26. https://ccrc.gov.uk/ccrc-to-refer-39-post-office-cases-on-abuse-of-process-argument/. Retrieved 2020-06-07. 
  45. ↑ "The CCRC refers eight more Post Office cases for appeal – bringing total to 47 so far". 2020-06-03. http://ccrc.gov.uk/the-ccrc-refers-eight-more-post-office-cases-for-appeal-bringing-total-to-47-so-far/. Retrieved 2020-06-07. 
  46. ↑ "TCCRC refers four more Post Office Horizon cases". 2021-01-20. https://ccrc.gov.uk/ccrc-refers-four-more-post-office-horizon-cases/. Retrieved 2021-04-21. 
  47. ↑ "Convicted Post Office workers have names cleared". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56859357. 
  48. ↑ "Subpostmasters cleared of convictions". Hudgells Solicitors. https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/news/post-office-horizon/subpostmasters-cleared-of-convictions-now-post-office-officials-must-face-criminal-investigation-for-maliciously-ruining-lives-by-prosecuting-innocent-people-in-pu/. 
  49. ↑ "Ex-Post Office chief should be stripped of CBE over Horizon scandal, union says". Jersey Evening Post. https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/uk-news/2021/04/23/ex-post-office-chief-should-be-stripped-of-cbe-over-horizon-scandal-union-says/. 
  50. ↑ "Ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells quits retailer boardroom roles after sub-postmasters have convictions overturned". 26 April 2021. https://news.sky.com/story/ex-post-office-chief-quits-retailer-boardroom-roles-and-church-of-england-ministry-12287322. 
  51. ↑ "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee - 10 March 2020". 10 March 2020. https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/9a73af32-a8d7-4ead-ad17-dc92f2d9f131. Retrieved 15 March 2020. 
  52. ↑ Corfield, Gareth (10 March 2020). "Post Office burned £100m in UK taxpayer cash on Horizon IT scandal legal fees, MPs told" (in en). https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/10/horizon_it_scandal_post_office_fujitsu_parliament/. Retrieved 15 March 2020. 
  53. ↑ "Horizon Settlement: Future Governance of Post Office Ltd - Hansard". https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-19/debates/03E48E18-4B5E-4A42-84C3-684E6B58495D/HorizonSettlementFutureGovernanceOfPostOfficeLtd. 
  54. ↑ Flinders, Karl. "Boris Johnson commits to 'getting to the bottom of' Post Office Horizon IT scandal" (in en). https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252479176/Boris-Johnson-commits-to-getting-to-the-bottom-of-Post-Office-Horizon-IT-scandal. Retrieved 20 March 2020. 
  55. ↑ "Business Update: Written statement - HCWS280". UK parliament. 10 June 2020. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-06-10/HCWS280/. Retrieved 13 June 2020. 
  56. ↑ "The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry". 1 December 2020. https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-post-office-horizon-it-inquiry. Retrieved 20 April 2021. 
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Hodge, Neil (2017-03-07). "U.K. Post Office faces group litigation order over IT flaw" (in en). https://www.complianceweek.com/uk-post-office-faces-group-litigation-order-over-it-flaw/2751.article. Retrieved 9 February 2020. 
  58. ↑ "The scandal that rocked a village Post Office". BBC Radio 4. 25 May 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1bd5tbMKvP1qXG3XVlR4VmS/the-scandal-that-rocked-a-village-post-office. 
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 Plimmer, Gill; Bounds, Andrew (12 December 2015). "Dream turns to nightmare for post office couple in fraud ordeal". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/91080df0-814c-11e4-b956-00144feabdc0.html. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 
  60. ↑ "Post Office scandal: What the Horizon saga is all about" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2021-04-23. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56718036. 

External links




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