New Post Office scandal report reveals software Horizon

A lawyer representing people affected by the “second Post Office IT scandal” said they should not “engage in a long and difficult battle for exoneration and compensation”.

A report published today has found there is a “reasonable possibility” that Capture software “created vulnerabilities” for subpostmasters before the Horizon scandal.

The system, which is the pioneer of Horizon, began to be implemented in branches since 1993.

One Investigation into post office’s Horizon accounting system He heard that more than 900 deputy postmasters had been unfairly prosecuted and received criminal convictions after the IT system made it appear that their branches had no money.

At least 40 former postmasters claim they were falsely accused of theft due to “glitches” in Capture.

Risk consultancy and financial solutions company Kroll’s independent report on Capture concluded that there was “a reasonable possibility that Capture may have created shortages for subpostmasters.”

Kroll did not draw any conclusions about the safety of criminal convictions. It found that 13.5% of all branches may be using Capture.

The report also found that assistant postmasters said network administrators and regional managers pressured them to use the system.

It was stated that legal investigation teams did not look into the question of “errors or errors” in the system at the time.

Kroll also questioned the authority and effectiveness of the Capture Help Desk.

Following the report’s publication, Neil Hudgell, a lawyer at Hudgells, told Sky News his firm had advised more than 70 people who suffered unexplained losses in their branches while Capture was in use.

He said: “Like Horizon, it was a flawed system – it was destroying lives and authorities repeatedly ignored the evidence unfolding before their eyes.”

He added that the independent review only took place “as a result of the courage, determination and resilience of those affected who came forward to speak out about what had happened to them and ultimately did not allow the injustice to go unchallenged”.

Mr Hudgell is calling for “rapid action to address these failings”, including the creation of a compensation scheme that would allow people to “seek rapid resolution or investigate their individual cases further”.

“It should never have required such a long and difficult struggle to reach this stage, and it should not now require such a long and difficult struggle for exoneration and compensation,” he said. “As we have seen this year, new laws can be fast-tracked and implemented to overturn unsafe convictions and clear people’s names.”

Lord Beamish, former MP Kevan Jones, was at the report briefing and said he believed records relating to the Capture “exist”.

“I think there needs to be some more research done at the post office,” he said. “I don’t trust the post office as much as I can spit.”

He called it a “copycat” of the Horizon scandal.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We fully support and will continue to support the government’s independent forensic accounting investigation into the Capture software.

“We have been very concerned from the outset about the reported problems with the use of Capture software in the 1990s and sincerely apologize for any past failures that have caused postmasters pain.

“We are determined that the wrongs must be righted to the extent possible.”

Earlier this year Sky News reported that the government agreed to an independent expert review Proof of being caught.

A group of postmasters presented materials, including floppy disks containing the software, to researchers.

They claimed that errors occurred while upgrades were being made in Capture, and that power outages were also one of the possible causes of failure.

Steve Marston, 68, says he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting after errors caused by Capture accounting software.

Auditors found shortfalls of £79,000 at its branch in Greater Manchester in 1998; He later pleaded guilty to theft and false accounting.

He said Capture was “completely unfit for use and should never have been released.”

He claims that assistant postmasters were told that “(the software) would make our lives easier and we would no longer have to do manual accounting as in the past.”

He said he was caught by the post office and “left to do this job without any guidance”.

Another Capture victim, Steve Lewis, lost his job in 2000 after voicing concerns about deficiencies and glitches in the Capture software.

“I was always seen as the guy who robbed the Post Office,” he said.

“I lost my post office and the commercial buildings I moved my office to, and I had to sell my parents’ house.”

Mr Lewis claims he was warned “not to be a nuisance” and was told the troubles were only happening to him.

It wasn’t until I watched the TV series. Mr Bates vs. Post OfficeHe said he “became aware” of the similarities between himself and the Horizon victims, such as “unexplained disappearances.”

Documents seen by Sky News also show the Post Office knew Capture was prone to glitches that could cause accounting problems.

In January the government instructed the Post Office to investigate claims related to Capture.