Also: no inquiry news before Christmas

Hi there

I wanted to put up this story last week, but it would have got swallowed up by the compensation hearing.

It’s an open letter from a serving Subpostmaster to the Post Office CEO. Of course, a lot of those who weren’t done by Horizon were done by Paula Vennells’ Network Transformation (not everyone – I realise some have managed to make it work), but it has made the last 20 years a bleak time to be a Subpostmaster.

I feel desperately sorry for Susan Craddock, the Largs Postmaster who wrote the letter (I have uploaded a picture of Susan below). You also might be interested in the Post Office response, which is pasted below it.

Everyone at Post Office HQ, though, is getting paid, so at least some people will have a good festive period.

No compensation report before Christmas

Earlier today the Chair of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry Sir Wyn Williams said he was not going to be able to report before Christmas on the various compensation issues which were raised last Thursday. Read his note here. He is also taking legal advice on the insolvency/bankruptcy cases, which will make things drag on, I’m sure. Sir Wyn has also published the timetable for the first two weeks of Phase 3 of the inquiry – Early Operation of Horizon, Training and Modifications.

Third anniversary of Horizon Issues judgment

Today is the third anniversary of the historic Horizon Issues judgment, which led to more than 80 convictions being quashed. It’s also the day Mr Justice Fraser informed us he was so concerned about the veracity of evidence given in civil and criminal courts by Fujitsu engineers he was passing a file to the DPP. I wrote up the day’s events here and provided the transcript here.

The Metropolitan Police inquiry investigating Mr Justice Fraser’s concerns is coming up for its three year anniversary with zero arrests to its name.

If you are able to, have a relaxing Christmas. Thanks for continuing to support this newsletter. It means a lot.

Very best

Nick