Post office farce

The circumstances of this case have been diabolical. Lives ruined and reputations destroyed, suicides, breakdowns and people sent to prison. Heads really must roll for this - it must have been obvious to those in the know that there was a problem with the Horizon system, yet they doggedly persisted in persecuting innocent people, demanding that they make up the non-existent shortfalls, that they plead guilty to financial mismanagement or be prosecuted for theft and sent to prison. Nothing can compensate for the nightmare these people have endured, but I hope that they get massive payouts. And yes, there should be a proper enquiry into exactly who knew what at the Post Office, and why on earth this was allowed to happen.

To put Paula Vennells in context-

^She is a Non-Executive Director of Morrisons Plc, a member of the government’s Financial Inclusion Policy Forum and of the Ethical Investment Advisory Group for the Church of England. She’s been a Trustee for the Hymns Ancient and Modern Group and a member of the Future High Street Forum. She served as a Non-Executive Board Member at the Cabinet Office between February 2019 and March 2020.
She received her CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to the Post Office and to charity^
www.gov.uk/government/people/paula-vennells

She is also, apparently, an Anglican priest. (Wikipedia).
?‍♀️

There are many unforgivable aspects to this apalling case, and among the worst, I think, is that each accused postmaster was made to believe they were the only one experiencing accounting discrepancies, so they felt they were utterly alone whilst knowing they were innocent of any wrongdoing.

The Post Office must have been fully aware that this was not the case, but persisted with this reprehensible persecution of innocent people.

Let’s hope none of current PO staff get blamed. The people who knew what was going on should be named, shamed and prosecuted. No doubt all this-rightful compensation-will
Simply come out of the public purse. They MUST be compensated ASAP even if it’s only a provisional amount

I saw this item on the news, those poor people, lives ruined how awful for them. The Woman at the helm in bringing prosecutions against these innocent victims, has a bloody CBE, what a disgrace!

I do hope these victims get some financial compensation for what they've been through.

Paula Vennells should be held to account. And if I worked for either Morrisons or Dunelm, I'd be worried.

Yes Sarnia - how could they justify that length of time? Although Justice is blind she can, apparently, smell the money - even more since the laws regarding legal aid was change in 2012 (more austerity?). The backlog in the courts - in place before Covid but made worse by it means justice denied to many too. I do hope these poor people see legal justice done.

Suzie you make a good point. There could, you would hope, be some sort of interim compensation (these people are not getting any younger).

Perhaps there are enough who have seen these cases over the years who could get behind a media campaign to push for a proper, timely public enquiry. I would sign and donate if it would help.

PippaZ Hillsborough another example. 30 years to get those responsible to court by which time they have had a life that the victims did not.

There are calls for a public enquiry - I would like to think that would happen. But first I hope the compensation payments are dealt with swiftly and properly without the need for court action. There are lots of fine words being spoken today but as we know, they won’t butter the parsnips. Today has reminded me of cases I’d heard over the years - all so sad in different ways but one mentioned again today was a woman of 38 who was prosecuted in 2002 and sent to a Youth Offenders prison. Half her life waiting for justice and lived with a criminal conviction.

They say truth will out but, in cases like this (Thalidomide is another that comes to mind) it seems money can delay that truth for as long as they want to destroying people's lives.

I really feel that somebody or somebodies should end up behind bars for this but sadly doubt it will happen. So many broken lives.

Hard to imagine how it felt for honest people to be accused of stealing and nobody believing them. I think the effects on them will be everlasting.

An absolutely appalling situation where innocent people have their lives ruined. The flawed computer system was covered up by management at the expense of the workers. At least two people have committed suicide and others have suffered over many years. Still no one has been brought to book. The post office workers deserve every penny of a large compensation offer.

Some years ago I work for the public sector where a new HR and Payroll software system was being piloted. It's was proved to be not fit for purpose, flawed beyond comprehension and was thrown out...........along with several Managers........it cost several millions of pounds!

Some of these sub postmasters must have been working for years with no hint of any wrongdoing, did their employers not start to wonder for one second why so many of them had started go wrong , at the exact same time as they introduced a new computer system

That’s exactly what I couldn’t understand. I can only think that there was no joined-up system in place to link the incidents together. I think I’m probably being naive there! ?

A truly tragic situation for the postmasters/postmistresses and their families.

Unfortunately there's no amount of money that can compensate for jail terms or suicide. I sincerely hope those who caused and knowingly ignored this will be prosecuted but, very sadly, I don't think that will happen. Perhaps a couple of scapegoats will suffer but in general I think a huge cover up will take place. The buck only stops where it suits the higher echelons.

Like others, I have followed this saga with horror. After the desperate misery and shame the Post Office inflicted on these unfortunate people, I hope those responsible, who knew what was happening and did nothing about it, will be prosecuted.

These people are not the top people, although a few de-honourings and sackings there would be welcome, but it came out during the appeals that there were senior managers and system designers who were designing and writing the systems who knew what the problem was and said nothing.

I have followed this as well. It is so scary to think that this can happen to innocent people because their employers prefer to trust computers rather than employees. Some of these sub postmasters must have been working for years with no hint of any wrongdoing, did their employers not start to wonder for one second why so many of them had started go wrong , at the exact same time as they introduced a new computer system.

Another one here who has been following this story with utter disbelief it got so far. Those poor folk, each with such harrowing accounts of such dreadful accusations and consequences. The culprits absolutely should be charged and imprisoned for the mental cruelty and abuse, humiliation and degradation these postmasters were subjected to. Its not enough for these good people to be exonerated alone.

I am so pleased for these innocent people, now where is the compensation? And it should be proper compensation NOT a token amount.

As others have said, farce is the wrong word. It’s the largest miscarriage of justice ever. It will end up costing the public purse as the compensation figures will be eye watering. And yet. afaik, no one culpable will be punished - let alone imprisoned. Like others, I’ve followed the story for ages and when listening to those poor people have felt a mixture of real upset and utter rage.

I’ve followed this for years, too. I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t more high-profile at the time. A number of my friends today have been commenting on it, saying they’d not heard of the scandal before.

Those poor people, who are often the backbone of local communities.

Chewy, I was about to post the same thing. I have followed this case for years. Those poor people!

Doesn't matter what they do now, it won't bring back the poor devils who were falsely accused of theft and who were in such misery and despair that they committed suicide.

Just been listening to someone on the radio saying his mum used to top up the missing £1,000 every month with her own money so that the PO didn't think she was stealing it. Its a disgrace.

Absolute fiasco. Monetary recompense does not always put everything right, though. Many of those sub-postmasters were of the Muslim community and the crimes they had been accused of brought shame on themselves and their wider family. Lives and relationships have been ruined over this mess.