A Sunday Times investigation

Hello,

It’s good to know that serious and important journalism continues to drive public awareness of the Post Office scandal. If you have a Times subscription, please read Hugo Daniel’s devastating story about an experienced Post Office manager who ended his life after being interviewed by two of the most notorious Post Office investigators, Stephen Bradshaw and Helen Rose. If you don’t have a subscription, try this link – which may work as a gift link. If you can afford it I’d recommend a Times subscription – journalism like Hugo’s takes time and money. Reviewing those documents, interviewing the family, checking and legalling everything doesn’t come cheap. It’s a harrowing story.

Accessing Injustice

It’s not just hacks who do the deep dives. Lawyers and academics are pretty good and doing that sort of thing too, none more so than the legal academic Professor Richard Moorhead, who worked with several colleagues across two universities to produce the new report: Accessing Injustice? Experiences of representation and the criminal justice system during the Post Office scandal.

The report “considers legal representation of Subpostmasters… particularly in the context of experiences of Post Office investigations through audit and interviews.”

It is a long read, but it provides a fascinating insight into the idiosyncrasies of a legal system which failed so many innocent Subpostmasters. If you want to read two much shorter write-ups of Accessing Injustice, you could do worse than Computer Weekly’s “Subpostmaster was told no jury would believe Post Office had ‘dodgy computer’” and the Law Gazette’s “Post Office scandal: Some defence lawyers ‘defeatist‘”.

A message from the National Police Chiefs Council

I was called this afternoon by a nice person at the NPCC who asked if I could possibly help publicise three briefing sessions the NPCC are holding for Subpostmasters and their families about Operation Olympos, the multimillion pound ongoing police investigation into the Post Office scandal which will have been running for six years in January.

Because it’s nice to be nice, I said I would. The briefing will be held by Stephen Clayman, Op Olympus’s Gold Commander, who (not that I’m bitter) turned down my interview request last year when I was hoping to get him on the Great Post Office Trial for BBC Radio 4 (grouch, grouch).

But anyway, if you want to hear what Commander Clayman (and his colleague Michael Norman – the Senior Investigating Officer) has to say about the investigation and you are someone directly affected by this scandal or a family member of someone directly affected by this scandal, you can register below.

For the session on:

Sunday 30 November at 7pm – click here.
Monday 1 December at 11am – click here.
Monday 1 December at 6.30pm – click here.

If you are in a Subpostmaster WhatsApp group or similar, please do spread the word and share the links within your groups. The police are keen to get as many attendees as possible.

Private Mortem

I am thrilled to tell you that on Thursday Private Eye hack and all-round good egg Richard Brooks will publish a book containing his take on the Post Office scandal called Post Mortem. Richard was interviewed by Alex Thomson from Channel 4 News last week about his work and the wider scandal – you can watch Alex’s piece here.

I had a chat with Richard this afternoon and we are cooking up a plan to do something on his book at the Oxford Literary Festival next March.

I am certain Post Mortem would make an excellent Christmas present. I am in awe at the speed he has managed to get this out. I very much cannot wait to read it. It’s got a foreword by Sir Alan Bates, n’ all. You can buy it here.

Finally…

If you are in Manchester this Saturday, please come and say hello at the inaugural Manchester Fringe Book Festival. I will be discussing my work on the Post Office at an event fair filled with truly astounding writers.

The full programme is here, and you can buy an afternoon, morning or all day ticket here. As you will see from the talks on offer, the speakers are largely gender critical women who have a fascinating take on the new orthodoxy we have been living under.

If you believe humans can’t change sex and you haven’t yet been able to say so in polite company – come along to Manchester on Saturday and be among nice people who have all had the same bewildering experience.

Very best,

Nick

I am (still) writing a new book about the Post Office scandal called The Great Post Office Cover-Up. You can put your money down now for a copy which will arrive after Sir Wyn Williams’ final report. Buying a pre-publication copy of the hardback (£15 + P&P) or paperback (£10 + P&P) will be cheaper than the post publication price, help support an independent publisher (by buying direct) and offer you the opportunity to join my secret email mailing list. For more info about the book, click here!