Sorry to send out two secret emails on a non-court day, but for those of you who aren’t on twitter (which I suspect is a majority of secret emailers), you may have missed a couple of things I posted today on www.postofficetrial.com
The first is a suitably breathless account of my first experience of meeting a Minister for Postal Affairs. Of course she wasn’t going to tell me much, but she told me enough. From what I learned today, the government is clearly watching this trial very closely and actively participating in the key decision-making about the litigation strategy. It would be bloody foolish not to, but I think we now have enough evidence this is the case. That is important, as it means people in my profession with a bit more clout can start holding their government’s feet to the fire on this.
Time to do nothing
The other piece is me having a pop at Time to Change mental health charity supported by Princes William and Harry, which will almost certainly end badly for me. But I felt I had to examine their behaviour, which looks very much like it is siding with an alleged mental health bully rather than its victim. This seems a very odd position to take. If you know anyone who might take a view on this, please forward them this link to the story.
Stephen Mason
Stephen is a barrister who specialises in the presentation of electronic evidence in court. In fact, he wrote the book on it. Stephen has written a blog post examining the Post Office’s position on Horizon being “robust”. It is illuminating and highly recommended.
Tracy Felstead
Don’t forget to have a look at Tracy’s story which I mentioned in my last secret email. It is a 15 minute read, but hopefully readable and a stark reminder of the real tragedies winding through this litigation.
Must try harder
Lord Justice Coulson had very little time for the Post Office’s application for permission to appeal the first trial judgment. It did make me wonder what on earth the Post Office lawyers are up to. Surely by doing what they were doing they knew they would annoy him. Read what he had to say here. I’ll upload the source document when I get a moment. I’ll also fisk and upload Fraser J’s refusal to allow the Post Office permission to appeal the first trial judgment. It is a richly entertaining read.
As I said this morning – lots going on at the moment!
Ta-ra
NIck