[News] Post Office convictions quashed.

[dejavuatbtn]

How many PO management have been dismissed as a result of their knowledge that their staff were not guilty of the charges against them

They just give them MBEs apparently.

 

[maltaseagull]

Common sense you say? I worked in a big pub in Crawley in the early 80s. The manager would physically put the takings in the bank. The manager told me that every 12-15 months he would pay in exactly a grand or two short. The brewer would make enquiries, shrug their shoulders and pass it off as some sort of error. No idea how long he got away with it. Soon after I left, his missus was done for shoplifting. I'm told that the thing about common sense is that it is . . . uncommon.

Not sure what is your point.
Please elaborate.

 

[Hampster Gull]

A basket case of a company, has been for so long. Shameful and people need to be held to account

 

[Arkwright]

I use to run my own PO branch and sub office, the PO operated like bullies to the counter staff offering very little support. I got done by a fraud case which cost me £2.5k and was one of dozens hit by the same scam, if the Horizon system was flagged with a warning it could have been so avoidable. The only correspondence I received was a letter saying "you owe us £2.5k".

With reference to these cases, Horizon was clearly at fault however I knew one of the branch managers and don't understand when things started to go wrong why they didn't call in the auditors straightaway instead of letting it snowball.

I'm so happy they have been cleared and hope they receive suitable compensation.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Not sure what is your point.
Please elaborate.

The post office lack common sense and...

Common sense is in general short supply.

 

[Billy the Fish]

The PO did their own prosecutions, not the CPS.

I mean that judges or magistrates must've constantly overlooked important details at trial for this to happen on such a large scale.

Did they all just believe that the computer system was infallible without any independent assessment

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I mean that judges or magistrates must've constantly overlooked important details at trial for this to happen on such a large scale.

Did they all just believe that the computer system was infallible without any independent assessment

I would imagine that there were lots of different trials all over the country in different courts so therefore nobody would join up the dots.

 

[Fungus]

"There were more than 700 prosecutions based on Horizon evidence. The commission and the Post Office are asking anyone else who believes their conviction to be unsafe to come forward."

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56859357

Even those with actual convictions are probably the thin end of the wedge. Talking to a friend of mine this morning who was a sub-postmaster, and he had to make up £200 out of his own pocket because the computer said so. He was probably one of the lucky ones.

 

[Weststander]

BBC1 Panorama special starting now, covering this scandal.

 

[beorhthelm]

I mean that judges or magistrates must've constantly overlooked important details at trial for this to happen on such a large scale.

Did they all just believe that the computer system was infallible without any independent assessment

in a nut shell, yes. the faulty audit system used as evidence you'd done something wrong.

 

[NooBHA]

How many PO management have been dismissed as a result of their knowledge that their staff were not guilty of the charges against them

I got head hunted by the Post Office in 2005 for a position to go in and review which Sub Post Offices were Financially Viable and which ones needed to be closed.

Thank f#ck I didn't take the job. I would probably have been either morally " compromised " by having to potentially overlook all the shiit that was going on. Either that or I would have had to become a chief " whistle blower " to all the cover ups.

 

[Eeyore]

Justice has finally been delivered.

There won't be justice until those who knew what was happening are in the slammer themselves.

 

[Goldstone1976]

I’ve followed this scandal for a few years. It’s an utter disgrace, and makes me extremely angry. So many innocent small sub-postmasters on the receiving end of convictions and in some cases jail sentences, with serious consequences to their standing in their communities, their financial situation, their employability, and often their mental health.

An utter disgrace.

 

[Brovion]

Private Eye have been following this for years - The Fujitsu Execs and the Post Office board were well aware of the problems but proceeded with their prosecutions anyway. Absolutely criminal, it stems from the Post Office being able to bring cases to court themselves rather than going through the CPS. The execs/higher ups who covered the issues up are long gone and are hoping they've got away with it.

Indeed. And yes, they probably will get away with it. This is following a depressingly-familiar pattern whenever a huge organisation is in the wrong. From the police at Hillsborough via the Post Office to Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, these vast organisations never admit their failure. If anybody stands up to them they bring (at our expense) their huge resources into play to crush the dissent. The obfuscate, delay, deny, refer, sack whistleblowers; anything to avoid a proper enquiry. And of course if anything ever gets to court they've got the expensive barristers.

And if against all the odds the little people do win then the most the big organisations do is give a mealy-mouthed apology, often blame a previous regime, and say that 'lessons have been learned' and that 'safeguards have been put in place' to make sure such a thing can never happen again. So that's all ok then. And what about prosecuting the people responsible? "Not in the Public Interest old boy." A decision usually arrived at by the CPS - another big organisation run by the same class of people.

 

[Springal]

<changed mind>