So now we know – the Post Office Horizon scandal has not been about senior management’s incompetence and their struggles to recognise that an expensive software programme might not have been all that it was cracked up to be. It has been a fundamental illustration of man’s inhumanity to man, or, more precisely, it has shown just how self-serving and lacking in regard for employees senior managers have been and continue to be.
Marina Hyde (Innocent subpostmasters went to jail, but now it is clear: the Post Office boss class belong there instead, 8 July) chilled my blood to the bone in describing how a postmistress made 256 calls to the helpdesk, but was still prosecuted and incarcerated, and missed her daughter’s 18th birthday while in prison. She then had to endure her daughter’s death a year later. Who on earth was so uninterested in the reason for so many calls, was so callous that they sat by while the postmistress was prosecuted?
Hyde says the Post Office bosses should go to jail. This one example of their failure to question why so many employees were experiencing serious Horizon problems, their callous indifference, the industrial-scale cover-up, not to mention their collective amnesia of events during the inquiry, leads to only one conclusion – those bosses must be prosecuted and incarcerated.
John Robinson
Lichfield
Commentary on the Horizon scandal has focused on the shortcomings of Fujitsu and of the Post Office. I suggest the British judiciary must also take some responsibility. Something like 1,000 people were brought before the courts, charged with stealing huge sums of money. There was no direct evidence against them. No one could show where the money had gone; there was no sign of the accused people developing an expensive lifestyle – most could not even afford lawyers to defend them. The only evidence came from a software system that could not be cross-examined.
Why did the judges allow these cases to proceed? They must, or should, have known about the hundreds of almost identical cases being prosecuted across the country. What has become of the principle of being judged guilty beyond reasonable doubt?
Alan Robinson
Griffydam, Leicestershire
This debacle has ruined so many lives and the perpetrators have yet to face any meaningful sanctions beyond public ignominy. Do we really have to wait for completion of the public inquiry before criminal proceedings can be started? The government should be ashamed at dragging its feet and further punishing the victims with the snail’s pace of agreeing compensation.
David Felton
Wistaston, Cheshire
Wasn’t there at least one person in the Post Office hierarchy who thought, “Hang on a minute, aren’t there a disproportionate number of people suddenly apparently stealing?” Or were they all so in thrall to new technology, and being courted by Fujitsu, that common sense flew out the window?
Terry Stone
Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Marina Hyde’s review of the scandal was, again, upsetting. A year or so ago, I felt it necessary to email Fujitsu’s CEO, Takahito Tokita. I said his company should provide immediate and substantial compensation as a matter of honour, but primarily because it was at fault. I’m still awaiting a reply.
Paul Garrod
Southsea, Hampshire
What we didn’t learn from the inquiry report – where did the money go (Post Office Horizon IT scandal: five things we learned from the report, 8 July)?
Sarah Walker and Barrie de Lara
Norwich
Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
