Post Office warned of Horizon software-induced ‘tragedy’ in 1999

The Post Office scandal public inquiry has been instructed that reside trials of the Horizon pc system in Post Office branches in 1999 led to a warning from subpostmasters that software program issues meant “a tragedy was not far away”.

Over the 15 years that adopted, in what has turn out to be often called the Post Office Horizon scandal, lots of of subpostmasters had their lives ruined after being blamed for unexplained accounting shortfalls, which have been truly brought on by pc errors.

According to paperwork referred to in the newest public inquiry listening to, suggestions from reside trials working Horizon in 300 workplaces in 1999 revealed critical issues over the software program, which was inflicting “difficulties and trauma” for subpostmasters struggling to stability their accounts. 

The trials have been being run in preparation for the Horizon system’s roll-out in 18,000 Post Office branches. If they have been successful, the Post Office deliberate to start out rolling the system out nationally in August that 12 months. This, it stated, can be constructed up slowly till Christmas, when a evaluate of the way it was working can be carried out. About 2,000 branches would have operational Horizon by then, earlier than a speedy roll-out starting in January 2000.

During questioning, former Post Office Horizon programme director David Miller was requested a few National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) government council assembly over two days in June 1999. That assembly’s report stated: “There was normal dialogue on the serve difficulties being skilled by subpostmasters who’re already working an automatic system. Seven sheets of feedback from [North East-based subpostmasters] have been handed to David Miller.

“The difficulties and trauma being experienced by some subpostmasters were giving rise to concerns for their health and emotional wellbeing. It was felt by some that a tragedy was not far away if something is not altered soon.”

The report stated that subpostmasters discovered the software program to be of poor high quality and never meant to run on a big community they usually needed to know whether or not the NFSP would request that ICL and the Post Office evaluate or restart with extra subpostmaster-friendly software program.

During the newest listening to, Tim Moloney KC, representing subpostmasters who have been victims of the Horizon scandal, requested Miller: “You now know that many subpostmasters were unjustly convicted [of financial crimes] and many have had their lives ruined as a result?”

The Post Office all the time denied that Horizon could possibly be accountable for unexplained accounting shortfalls, for which subpostmasters have been blamed and punished. They had their lives turned the other way up, with felony prosecutions for lots of and plenty of extra financially ruined. In 2019, a High Court case discovered that the pc system might trigger the losses.

Between 2000 and 2013, greater than 700 subpostmasters have been prosecuted for monetary crimes and 1000’s extra had their lives and companies ruined consequently of being blamed for shortfalls.

Miller acknowledged this and was instructed by Moloney that many of the difficulties that Miller had seen in the testing of Horizon have been the issues that these subpostmasters suffered earlier than they have been prosecuted.

Moloney requested whether or not Miller thought there was something he might have completed, given the data he had, to have prevented the subpostmasters being blamed for shortfalls. Miller stated he “bitterly regretted what had happened”, however stated he solely turned conscious of the issue throughout the 2018/19 High Court trial, when subpostmasters sued the Post Office for his or her losses and struggling because the consequence of Horizon issues.

The NFSP has additionally lately distanced itself from any blame for taking no motion to assist subpostmasters. Earlier this month, the NFSP instructed the general public inquiry that it was unaware that there have been important  issues with the Horizon system, suggesting that it was misled. “NFSP sincerely regrets that its belief in the Post Office, the government, Fujitsu and the justice system was so misplaced,” stated lawyer Catriona Watt, representing the NFSP.

She added: “Without the knowledge that, it turns out, Post Office and Fujitsu had, the NFSP was limited in what it could do and it is, of course, with hindsight, with all of the information that is now available to it, that the NFSP and others can look and say, ‘Well, why did we not know this?’”  

In truth, the NFSP continued to defend the Post Office’s place, reasonably than difficult it on behalf of its members. During a Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee assembly in 2015, Alan Bates, a member of the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance (JFSA) strain group, which was set as much as marketing campaign for the subpostmasters affected, criticised former NFSP normal secretary George Thomson for siding with the Post Office over the Horizon issues.

Thomson refuted this, saying: “I will kick the Post Office up the backside when it does something wrong, but on Horizon it has done nothing wrong.”

Computer Weekly first reported on issues with the Horizon system in 2009, when it made public the tales of a gaggle of subpostmasters (see timeline of articles under).