Former Post Office chief and MD denies oversight of wrongful prosecutions

THE Post Office’s former chief executive and managing director both claimed they did not remember having oversight of the wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters at the Horizon scandal inquiry today.

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Adam Crozier, who headed Royal Mail when it owned the Post Office in 2003-10, said in his witness statement: “I do not recall any involvement in or knowledge of the oversight of the investigations and prosecutions brought by Post Office Ltd against subpostmasters, either for theft, fraud and false accounting for alleged shortfalls in branch accounts for the recovery of such alleged shortfalls through the use of civil proceedings.”

Giving evidence to the inquiry for the first time today, he  admitted he didn’t have a “developed understanding” of the way in which Royal Mail carried out prosecutions and that he “doesn’t know” if the money paid by subpostmasters for accounting shortfalls was recorded as profit.

He also expressed “surprise” over claims that former Post Office managing director Alan Cook was unaware for more than three years that he was the head of a prosecuting authority.

Giving his own evidence, Mr Cook was asked by Sam Stein KC, on behalf of a number of subpostmasters: “In your statement, you say this: ‘To the best of my knowledge the risk and compliance committee was not given any information or reporting, nor did I have any oversight of the prosecution of subpostmasters.

“‘As a result I did not take any steps … to ensure the Post Office was acting in compliance with its legal obligations. In relation to those prosecutions and civil proceedings against subpostmasters, I was not aware they were taking place.’

“It’s just a straight-out lie, isn’t it Mr Cook?”

He replied: “The point I was trying to make was about the initiation of prosecutions — I have repeatedly acknowledged that there were cases under investigation and that I was aware there were cases under investigation.”

Mr Cook added his email about “subbies with their hands in the till” was “unacceptable” and one he will “regret for the rest of my life” and that it was his regret that he failed to properly understand minutes of a risk and compliance committee meeting from September 29 2005 which said the Post Office had a “principle of undertaking prosecutions.”