Archives :
Inquiry
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EXCLUSIVE: How not to commission a complex IT project
Going around the country trying to spread the word about the Post Office Scandal (whilst also hoping to sell copies of my book) has brought me into contact with a class of bright, often retired, professional people who are appalled at what happened. Some even have direct experience of the story, usually from an interesting…
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Inquiry Phase 2: Star Witness – Dave gives it both barrels
David McDonnell, a former Deputy Development Manager on the Horizon IT project with Fujitsu/ICL gave evidence during the Horizon IT inquiry on the morning of Wed 16 November. What he had to say was devastating. In October 1998 McDonnell co-wrote a report on the Horizon EPOS system with Jan Holmes, a Fujitsu/ICL internal auditor (and…
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Podcasting the Post Office scandal
When Rebecca suggested we do a podcast to cover the Inquiry, I thought it was a brilliant idea. I’m a broadcast journalist. I’ve done this sort of stuff before. What could be easier than just recording our thoughts at the end of a week and releasing them into the ether? Turns out producing a podcast…
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Jenkins wants inquiry ‘immunity’
Gareth Jenkins, the former Fujitsu engineer who has become a person of interest to the Metropolitan Police, has demanded certain assurances from the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry before he gives evidence. Jenkins, the subject of the first Clarke Advice and a spectre at the feast during the Bates v Post Office litigation wants an…
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Nailing Sir Peter Fraser – the legal hit squad
During the first week of phase two of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry we discovered more about Lord Neuberger’s involvement in the decision to ask Mr Justice Fraser to recuse (remove) himself as managing judge from the Bates v Post Office group litigation, something the Post Office recognised internally was “the nuclear option.” It’s…
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Brian out of the shadows
Brian Altman KC advised the Post Office on the Horizon scandal from 2013 right up until 2021. He has, in his career, held the title of First Senior Treasury counsel – the most senior prosecution barrister in England. Brian Altman’s advice to the Post Office is privileged, which means that had the Post Office chosen…
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Why was Horizon allowed to go live?
In my book I interview someone who was parachuted into Fujitsu [or more specifically, its subsidiary ICL Pathway] into the late 90s to try to rescue the Horizon project. He couldn’t. I called my interlocutor Clint because he didn’t want me to use his real name, and there was something steely-eyed about him. Of the…
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Crowdfunding the Inquiry
Rebecca Thomson and I have decided to try to crowdfund our coverage of the Post Office Horizon Inquiry, which re-starts open hearings this week. If you donate you will be subscribed to the “secret” email newsletter, written by me and sent out whenever something of interest is happening in this story. Your donation will allow…
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Eleanor’s Letter
Eleanor has spent many hours putting together serious and important research on what the Post Office and the government has been up to over the last 25 years with regard to the Horizon computer system. Recently, her precision-guided and relentless Freedom of Information requests grubbed up the Swift Review. This is a document so concerning…
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The Compensation Catch
Last week Alan Bates stunned a small, but significant number of members of the Justice for Subpostmasters’ Alliance with a circular sent out on 12 September. The members concerned are a sub-group of the 555 claimants in Bates v Post Office who have what the government are terming ‘complex’ situations. There are about 100 of…
