As the public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal reaches its climax, the legal teams representing key figures are trading pointed allegations about witness motives and where the ultimate blame lies for the largest miscarriage of justice in British history.
Vennells’ Lawyer Questions Witness Credibility
In a provocative closing statement, the lawyer for former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells cautioned the inquiry to treat the testimony of certain witnesses “cautiously.” Suggesting that some were driven by “self-preservation” to make Vennells a scapegoat, Samantha Leek KC argued:
When witnesses have given recent evidence of matters relevant to Ms Vennells without it being supported by contemporaneous documents, this evidence should be approached cautiously.
Vennells previously named five executives she claimed were responsible for the scandal. But her legal team insisted she has “no desire to point the finger at others” and maintained no evidence shows she “acted in bad faith.”
Post Office Faults Fujitsu, Culture of “Contempt”
The Post Office’s lawyer expressed “deep regret” over relying on Fujitsu, the developer of the flawed Horizon accounting system. Kate Gallafent KC portrayed the Post Office as the “subordinate partner” to Fujitsu in their relationship.
But a government lawyer laid the scandal primarily at the feet of the Post Office itself, decrying the organization’s “institutional culture” of “contempt” toward branch operators. Nick Chapman described the Post Office as led by “weak and arrogant” executives who were “culpably dishonest.”
The Horizon scandal is also a story of false assurances, a culture of secrecy, of spin doctors, untruths and half-truths repeated as mantra to board members, officials, ministers, MPs and the Great British public. Of institutional and individual arrogance, incompetence, dishonesty and cover-up.
– Nick Chapman, government lawyer
Fujitsu Fires Back
Fujitsu did not take the Post Office’s accusations lightly. Richard Whittam KC shot back that the Post Office was trying to “obfuscate its proper share of responsibility by seeking wrongly to deflect blame on Fujitsu.” He pointed to evidence that the Post Office was aware of potential flaws in the Horizon system for 25 years.
The Post Office has been aware for at least 25 years of the potential for – and existence of – bugs, errors and defects.
– Richard Whittam KC, Fujitsu lawyer
Government Expands Compensation, Accepts Accountability
As the various parties pointed fingers, the government announced it would expand compensation eligibility to more branch operators affected by an earlier faulty accounting system. At the same time, the government lawyer acknowledged ministers’ “ultimate accountability” for the Post Office’s actions as its sole shareholder, even as he alleged they were “consistently managed, misled and deceived.”
The riveting inquiry is set to release its findings next year, finally providing a full public accounting of the devastating scandal. For the hundreds of branch operators wrongfully prosecuted, it may provide some long-awaited answers – but the legal wrangling makes clear a reckoning over responsibility is far from settled.
