Anyone just watched Mr Bates v the Post Office? *GNHQ tweaked the title*

Petition signed

Petition signed.

So angry. Petition signed

Numbers increasing rapidly.

Well done, ITV, for bringing this miscarriage of justice to the fore again.

Maggiemaybe

Petition signed.

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/strip-paula-vennells-of-her-cbe

Signed

Sickening.

Urmstongran

I’ve been reading a more detailed account of the case on another news outlet and this paragraph stood out:

“To this day, not a single Post Office or Fujitsu employee has been held to account over the scandal, much less faced criminal investigation. And 60 of the victims have died before finding any justice at all.”

“To this day, not a single Post Office or Fujitsu employee has been held to account over the scandal, much less faced criminal investigation. And 60 of the victims have died before finding any justice at all.”

This is unbearable, isn't it?

One has to ask... why not?

Meanwhile, Fujitsu said it was "committed to providing the fullest and most transparent information so that key lessons are learned for the future". (BBC News)

... so - they are going to "learn" those lessons that we are so often told about.

I suppose they will also talk about how they "missed opportunities" at some point, too.

The cases constitute the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history. (BBC).

I binged those series as it was so good. I had a lump in my throat and tear in my eye as I felt the frustration and sheer helplessness of those poor people.
So angry with the way the 'establishment' behaves and gets away with so much😡

If this had been a police investigation surely one of the first things to happen would have been in depth searches of everybody's bank accounts. The sight of someone sitting in front of a woman who has nothing left and just saying "Where is the £36,000?" beggars believe. Why would anyone remortgage their house if they had thousands stashed away?

Petition signed

Petition signed.

Petition signed

Petition signed.

No TV to watch this but I’ve been following this scandal for years, furious that such a blatant injustice could occur in what was once an honourable country.
I could never understand why the PO could not see that, because the problem was widespread, it must have originated with them. Now we know that each victim was told they were “the only one” while the PO concealed and lied and ignored the evidence.

Episode 2/4 is on ITV/STV at 9pm tonight Terri and anyone else.

I’ve been reading a more detailed account of the case on another news outlet and this paragraph stood out:

“To this day, not a single Post Office or Fujitsu employee has been held to account over the scandal, much less faced criminal investigation. And 60 of the victims have died before finding any justice at all.”

Where can I watch this please

I began listening to 'The Great Post Office Trial' a BBC Radio 4 podcast by Nick Wallis when it was first recorded in 2020. Nick Wallis is an investigative reporter who was involved in bringing this story to public attention. It is very indepth and covers a lot of ground. Very well worth a listen

Petition signed.

Petition signed

Just signed the petition.

Watching the programme with interest.

I have signed the petition

Joseann

MaizieD

Joseann

So, I wonder, was Mr. Bates' refusal to sign the papers like the others did, in any way less implicating, and less stressful for him personally? He was obviously far more savvy where accounts and record keeping were concerned. He is an interesting character.

They were all guilty of false accounting, weren't they? They signed to say that their accounts were correct, when they weren't because they'd made up the apparent shortfalls themselves. Mr Bates couldn't be guilty of that because he hadn't signed anything. If they didn't bring the police in then presumably they couldn't go for embezzlement instead.

What intrigues me is that surely, at some stage, the there was more money somewhere in the system than the individual post office accounts actually showed, because 100s of Post Masters/Mistresses had put in £1,000s of their own money to make up the apparent shortfalls. I don't know how accounting on a corporate scale works, collating figures from lots of small units, but there must have been some very discrepant figures somewhere along the line.

In addition to any compensation the PO really ought to repay all the money it effectively stole from its victims...

You would have thought that with a proper audit it would have been possible to see where the mistakes lay.

Joseann, you certainly would, wouldnt you, and if the dramatisation is accurate, then it seems that the postmasters and mistresses asking for resolution and agreeing to an audit fully expected that to be the case, too, but in fact the so-called 'audits' seemed to not go any deeper into the issue than the victims themselves had been able too. In other words, the Post Office representatives seemed to be there simply to view the computer-generated figures, and take them at face value.

MaizieD

Joseann

So, I wonder, was Mr. Bates' refusal to sign the papers like the others did, in any way less implicating, and less stressful for him personally? He was obviously far more savvy where accounts and record keeping were concerned. He is an interesting character.

They were all guilty of false accounting, weren't they? They signed to say that their accounts were correct, when they weren't because they'd made up the apparent shortfalls themselves. Mr Bates couldn't be guilty of that because he hadn't signed anything. If they didn't bring the police in then presumably they couldn't go for embezzlement instead.

What intrigues me is that surely, at some stage, the there was more money somewhere in the system than the individual post office accounts actually showed, because 100s of Post Masters/Mistresses had put in £1,000s of their own money to make up the apparent shortfalls. I don't know how accounting on a corporate scale works, collating figures from lots of small units, but there must have been some very discrepant figures somewhere along the line.

In addition to any compensation the PO really ought to repay all the money it effectively stole from its victims...

You would have thought that with a proper audit it would have been possible to see where the mistakes lay.

Petition signed. I agree Allsorts she should pay back her leaving package too.

Yes, I also would like to know what happened to the money some of the victims paid up in order to extricate themselves. Why did it never show up in the corporate accounting? It should be refunded immediately.

Me too.... I would like to know this.