Archives :
Nick Wallis
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Graham Ward: a man in trouble
Graham Ward was the Post Office investigator who helped put former Subpostmaster Noel Thomas away. Whether he did so by perverting the course of justice is something the Metropolitan Police (his current employer) will be looking at very closely, after today’s evidence session. The Metropolitan Police are core participants to the Inquiry. Mr Ward was…
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Second Sight tell it straight
“Good luck” said a reporter as Ron Warmington headed into Aldwych House. Warmington wheeled round. “Don’t need bloody luck”, he grinned. “I’ve been waiting twelve years for this.” Indeed he has. In 2012 forensic accountants Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson were invited by MPs, the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) and the Post Office to…
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Knighthood for Sir Alan!
Alan Bates has been knighted in the King’s Birthday honours list. He described the award as “a very pleasant surprise”, telling BBC News’ Emma Simpson “I knew so many people who were keen for me to actually receive something, I felt I would be insulting them as much as anyone else if I refused it…
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Post Office legal strategy: “force the claimants to burn money”
The second day of Andy Parsons’ evidence (see here for a piece on the first) was short with only a few new documents to consider. One was another piece of corroboration that the Post Office strategy during Bates v Post Office – the seminal legal battle which blew the lid off the scandal – was…
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Post Office lawyer: Postmasters are liars
A civil litigation lawyer instructed by the Post Office branded campaigning former Subpostmasters Jo Hamilton, Noel Thomas and Seema Misra “liars and criminals” whilst discussing PR strategy with his clients. Andy Parsons from Bond Dickinson was advising the Post Office on their media response to a 2015 episode of Panorama which featured all three Subpostmasters.…
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Lord Grabiner: Never Mind “That Bollox”
Lord Grabiner strode into the Inquiry hearing room wielding a walking cane. As he didn’t appear to be using it to support himself it rather gave the impression it might be utilised to punish impertinence. Jason Beer KC, who asked questions on behalf of the inquiry, appeared unruffled. Grabiner was called to explore his apparent…
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De Garr Robinson’s Jenkins problem
Poor old Tony Robinson, just trying to make an honest crust defending his client, whilst being misled by his instructing solicitors (Womble Bond Dickinson), his client’s supplier (Fujitsu) or possibly even his client – the Post Office! As leading counsel for the Post Office in the Horizon Issues trial during Bates v Post Office, de…
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Post Office refuses to say how much Grabiner and Neuberger cost
On 4 October 2023, I asked the Post Office to disclose the fee notes for Lords Grabiner and Neuberger under the Freedom of Information Act. I thought it would be interesting to know just how much public cash the Post Office used to spend on their advice, which informed the Post Office’s decision to demand…
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More dispatches from the Post Office bunker: the PR guy goes Tonto
On 1 Dec 2014 I was in Cornwall, where Tim Robinson, Jane Goddard, Joe Cooper and I had been filming with former Subpostmaster Sue Knight. After 32 years service Sue had been sacked and prosecuted by the Post Office for false accounting. Although the prosecution had been dropped, Sue’s life was falling apart. She had…
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The taxi for Paula Vennells which never quite came
A powerpoint slide deck was the most newsworthy element to leap out of former Post Office chair Alice Perkins’ second day of evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry today. Thanks to an anonymous nine-page presentation, we know that in February 2014 the government was tempted to sack Post Office CEO Paula Vennells because…