Former Post Office call for former chiefs to face prison time following Horizon scandal

Former Post Office sub-postmasters and mistresses have called for former bosses to face prison time as they continue to provide evidence for the public inquiry on the Horizon scandal, which started this week.

More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions between 2000 and 2014 when faulty accounting software called Horizon made it look as if money was missing. 

The system, developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was used for tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking.

Some went to prison following convictions for false accounting and theft following the system’s shortcomings, and many were ruined financially, with reputations damaged.

Some sub-postmasters attempted to plug the gap with their own money, even remortgaging their homes, in an attempt to correct an error.

Campaigners have been fighting for years to have their cases reconsidered.

Damian Owen, former manager of a Post Office branch in Bangor, was jailed for eight months after he was accused of stealing £25,000 as a result of computer errors, said: “I want there to be convictions, not only for the people who have perpetuated the whole conspiracy inside the Post Office, everyone from the top down who knew and was still pushing charges”.

Although his conviction was quashed in 2021, Owen explained the significant impact the scandal had on his life. 

“I want charges against people not only in my court case who came to give evidence and lied under oath, I want each of them to receive a perjury charge”, he added.

Sir Wyn Williams, the retired High Court judge who is leading the inquiry, said he sought to understand “the scale and nature of the harm” done to the convicted workers.

“These hearings would not be taking place at all were it not for the witnesses who have agreed to give up their valuable time to publicly relive what must be very distressing memories and events”, Sir Wyn said.

Top lawyer Jason Beer QC said former sub-postmasters and mistresses’ stories should be at the heart of the inquiry.

The inquiry is set to run for the rest of the year, with a total of 72 former sub-postmasters having had their names cleared.