Archives :
2024
-
Post Office CEO allegedly sought to put back redress target to secure bonus
Jane Davies, the former Chief People Officer at the Post Office claims that Post Office management, led by CEO Nick Read, attempted to delay a key compensation target date in order to ensure they qualified for a bonus. Ms Davies said “changing this target would result in slower compensation payments, in favour of paying a…
-
Closing statements: Day 2 – Circular Firing Squad
There were some good points made today, but the main one was a big shrug – “not me, mate”. In this blog post I’m going to focus on what was said by the various core participants’ barristers. For more on what it was like to be there and why there’s a basket full of chocolate…
-
Closing statements: Day 1
The hearing room was packed today as Subpostmasters, their supporters, lawyers, journalists and members of the public attended a long day of submissions at Aldwych House in London. First out of the blocks was Ed Henry KC who sought to draw the line of conspiracy upwards through the executive to the Post Office board. Henry…
-
New book now on pre-sale: The Great Post Office Cover-Up
I am delighted to announce I have struck a deal with Bath Publishing’s new-ish Cinto imprint to write another book about the Post Office scandal. This one will be called The Great Post Office Cover-Up. You can pre-buy it here: https://www.cintopress.co.uk/the-great-post-office-cover-up.html Cinto will be printing both a £15+P&P signed limited edition hardback and a £10+P&P…
-
Issy Hogg
Issy Hogg, the criminal defence solicitor for Subpostmasters Jo Hamilton and Seema Misra, has sadly passed away. She was 64 years old. Issy (pronounced “Izzy”) was diagnosed with terminal cancer in March 2020, just before the first Covid lockdown. She was given six months to live – perhaps longer with some challenging treatment. Issy decided…
-
Proposed amendment to legal presumption about the reliability of computers
I am grateful to the journalist Tom Webb, who specialises in data protection, for alerting me to an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, currently going through the House of Lords. It concerns the legal presumption that “mechanical instruments” (which seems to be taken to include computer networks) are working properly if they…
-
Dame Sandra Dawson vs Paula Vennells’ lawyer
I am publishing this blog post largely as an excuse to use one of my favourite screenshots of the entire Inquiry. See above. Corporate governance experts Dame Sandra Dawson and Dr Katy Steward wrote two lengthy reports about the Post Office’s corporate governance responsibilities and failings when it came to the scandal. On 12 and…
-
Post Office Inquiry costs to top £50m
The cost of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is likely to be well over £50,000,000. Reports for the last financial year alone reveal the Inquiry cost £26,198,625 to run, more than the previous three years combined. Figures quietly published on the Inquiry website show that in the twelve months to the end of March…
-
Chris Head: an open letter to Gareth Thomas, Post Office minister
In 2006, Chris Head became Britain’s youngest Subpostmaster at the age of 18. He was given the keys to the West Bolden branch near Sunderland. According to an interview he gave to The Sun newspaper, Chris had small discrepancies from the start of his tenure. In 2014, Chris says the Post Office’s Horizon IT system…
-
Lisa Busch KC
Lisa Busch KC, one of the most significant unsung heroes in the Post Office scandal, has died after a short illness. Busch represented former Subpostmasters Seema Misra, Janet Skinner and Tracy Felstead at the Court of Appeal Hamilton hearings in 2021 after the barrister Paul Marshall and his junior Flora Page were forced to stand…