Genie Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 5 hours ago, colhint said: I'm not sure that's the case. As I understand those involved with the drama have been recompensed. It's just after it was aired loads more have come forward. From the BBC is looks like the vast majority have not had their convictions quashed Quote Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and mistresses based on information from a computer system called Horizon More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when the faulty software made it look as though money was missing from their sites - 93 of these convictions have been overturned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 (edited) And, of course, quashing convictions is one thing. but that's the bare minimum. Individuals need to be held to account for covering up these issues to pursue convictions. They knew the system wasn't reliable, and they ruined people's careers and lives. People from the senior executive teams, legal teams and engineers need to be held to account. Additionally, I think there needs to be some very real scrutiny at the powers and processes in place that have allowed the PO to be the victims, investigators and prosecutors of a crime. Edited January 8 by Davkaus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 (edited) 7 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said: Why has it taken a TV show to get the government interested in the Post Office / Horizon scandal?! Its been in the news for a good while but now it’s been turned into a mini drama for TV the government decides to begin acting, absolute shitshow as per. I bow to nobody in my dislike of this Government, but it didn't take a TV show to get them interested, they got interested in September 2020 when they set up an Independent Inquiry, which was promoted to a Statutory Inquiry in 2021. The TV programme means that their constituents and the media are now starting to ask them questions about it, the responses to which are now being more widely reported than they were. Edited January 8 by ml1dch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Paula Vennells the women in charge of the post office who pushed for these charges actually got a CBE not long after for services to the post office. She is at the centre of this, rumours coming out is she knew the Horizon system was at fault, but pressed on to put the employees through hell, rather than admit the system was at fault and damage her reputation. The more you read the more shocking it is. Yes some compo has been paid, but it's pitence, Government coming out in public now like they are interested is scandlous, it happened 25 fricking years ago. The damage has been done, by charging people and jailing a few with no evidence of theft, Paula Vennells herself should have a criminal investiagtion against her, no private company CEO could do this and get away scott free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Just now, foreveryoung said: Paula Vennells the women in charge of the post office who pushed for these charges actually got a CBE not long after for services to the post office. She is at the centre of this, rumours coming out is she knew the Horizon system was at fault, but pressed on to put the employees through hell, rather than admit the system was at fault and damage her reputation. The more you read the more shocking it is. Yes some compo has been paid, but it's pitence, Government coming out in public now like they are interested is scandlous, it happened 25 fricking years ago. The damage has been done, by charging people and jailing a few with no evidence of theft, Paula Vennells herself should have a criminal investiagtion against her, no private company CEO could do this and get away scott free. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made millions from the sale of PO shares. Just waiting for that story to land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 8 Moderator Share Posted January 8 14 minutes ago, Genie said: I wouldn’t be surprised if she made millions from the sale of PO shares. Just waiting for that story to land. The PO isn’t a private company, we the people own it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 3 minutes ago, Genie said: I wouldn’t be surprised if she made millions from the sale of PO shares. Just waiting for that story to land. You can take she left with the proverbial golden handshake, due the Post Office losing £120 million when she joined, then making a profit before she left. I believe it cost £244 million in costs to prosecute the staff and then compo, so probabaly didn't actually make a bean. But no worries as all those prosecuted got a total of £22k, which is why it's come back into the public domain. it's also known 3 directors of Fujitsu who designed the software for the Horizon system, shared 2.3 million due to profit share that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 minute ago, bickster said: The PO isn’t a private company, we the people own it Yeah Sunak come out today 25 years later to confirm they are gonna sort it. F**** joker!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 8 Moderator Share Posted January 8 … associated to that why do the government keep saying it shouldn’t just be the taxpayer that foots the bill? Are they going to make Fujitsu pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 minute ago, bickster said: The PO isn’t a private company, we the people own it Weren’t all the employees given shares a few years ago? I’ve not looked at the timeline but just musing that she got shit loads as the chief and made millions, and got her honour from the queen whilst she oversaw innocent people go to jail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 8 Moderator Share Posted January 8 Just now, Genie said: Weren’t all the employees given shares a few years ago? I’ve not looked at the timeline but just musing that she got shit loads as the chief and made millions, and got her honour from the queen whilst she oversaw innocent people go to jail. It’s owned by the government. 100% Government owned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Just now, bickster said: It’s owned by the government. 100% Government owned Ok fair enough, I’m mixing the post office and Royal Mail I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 19 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: Paula Vennells the women in charge of the post office who pushed for these charges actually got a CBE not long after for services to the post office. She is at the centre of this, rumours coming out is she knew the Horizon system was at fault, but pressed on to put the employees through hell, rather than admit the system was at fault and damage her reputation. She is at fault. She's far from the only one. There had been hundreds of prosecutions before she ever arrived at the Post Office. She could and should have stopped it, but the prosecutions were busienss as usual before she ever got there, and her being the scapegoat for the whole disaster is not sufficient. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 (edited) Awful listening, just a small number of hundreds who had years and years of their life ruined by the malicious arse-covering of scumbags at the Post Office. This organisation needs breaking up. Edited January 8 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 8 Moderator Share Posted January 8 26 minutes ago, Davkaus said: This organisation needs breaking up. To be replaced with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 3 minutes ago, bickster said: To be replaced with? A good start would simply be stripping them of the ability to prosecute and having criminal action pursued by a constabulary with an independent management structure with cases managed by the CPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 8 Moderator Share Posted January 8 2 minutes ago, Davkaus said: A good start would simply be stripping them of the ability to prosecute and having criminal action pursued by a constabulary with an independent management structure with cases managed by the CPS. Every company and person in the land has the ability to take out a private prosecution, which is what the PO we’re doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 9 minutes ago, bickster said: Every company and person in the land has the ability to take out a private prosecution, which is what the PO we’re doing. Most private organisations and people don't have access to the police national computer system, investigators appointed by the national crime agency, or the right to conduct targeted surveillance. The Post Office has far more power than private companies I also think this scandal should really lead to some widespread changes in the law around private prosecutions in general, but that's a whole other discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 8 Moderator Share Posted January 8 9 minutes ago, Davkaus said: Most private organisations and people don't have access to the police national computer system, investigators appointed by the national crime agency, or the right to conduct targeted surveillance. The Post Office has far more power than private companies I also think this scandal should really lead to some widespread changes in the law around private prosecutions in general, but that's a whole other discussion. It really should stop the judiciary believing “computer says no” 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Just now, bickster said: It really should stop the judiciary believing “computer says no” Yeah, I was reading a bit about that a few weeks ago, the presumed accuracy of any IT system, designed to basically get the coppers off the hook from having to calibrate their speed cameras. Not sure if that's still on the statute books but if it is, it needs to go. The immediate response of anyone who's spent more than a week involved in professional software development being asked "would you confidently state in court that your application has no bugs" would be astonishment and "absolutely not". All software has bugs, and we know we haven't found them all yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts