Post Office scandal: Distressed sub-postmasters say Horizon system ‘nonetheless inflicting thriller shortfalls’
A bunch representing nearly 1,000 sub-postmasters throughout the UK has informed Sky News the Post Office Horizon system continues to be inflicting unexplained shortfalls, that are wrecking companies.
Voice of the Postmaster (VotP), which was set as much as marketing campaign for present workers, alleges the discredited IT software program continues to be producing mysterious lacking cash.
Marlene Wood, postmistress at Comrie Crieff Post Office in Perthshire, alleges the obvious shortfalls she has been dealing with are partly linked to Horizon and are consuming into her earnings.
The 53-year-old, who has been accountable for the department for greater than 4 years, informed Sky News: “My business is failing. I will go under in part due to the discrepancies that I pay back.
“There is not any laptop system that’s fail-safe. There continues to be bugs.”
Ms Wood claimed there was one discrepancy of a few hundred kilos.
She mentioned: “I spent the evening going by way of the secure, transactions, notes and could not discover something.
“I went to bed and woke up, redeclared my cash amount and there was no discrepancy. It had vanished.
“I’m not saying Horizon is responsible for every part however to not the diploma that you simply go to mattress and it could magically disappear.”
Ms Wood, who mentioned she is emotionally distressed, estimates she is round £2,000 within the crimson and is dealing with shedding her livelihood.
She additionally mentioned her “marriage is gone” and has needed to borrow cash from her mom.
Ms Wood added: “If it does go under, I am going to have nowhere to live as the house is above the Post Office.
“I will likely be sleeping on my mum’s sofa on the age of 53 with no job, no credit standing and owing, probably, hundreds of kilos. That’s the truth of getting a Post Office.”
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In response, Post Office chiefs informed Sky News it was “very sorry” to be taught of the issues.
A spokesperson mentioned: “We are very sorry to hear of the experience our postmistress for Comrie Crieff is having.
“Our space supervisor has visited her to grasp the problems and discuss by way of the assist that’s accessible which might make a distinction to her state of affairs, and we’re following this up.”
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It comes after Japanese know-how agency Fujitsu mentioned it plans to compensate sub-postmasters wronged within the authentic Horizon scandal dating back decades.
The multinational company – which developed the Horizon system – is in the spotlight after TV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office renewed public interest in the issue and sparked outrage.
Hundreds of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were prosecuted over claims they were stealing from the Post Office – but the missing money was actually due to errors in the IT software.
A different version of the Horizon software is used today but Voice of the Postmaster claims problems persist with “not a postmaster within the nation” unaffected.
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Sara Barlow, secretary of VotP committee, informed Sky News: “Horizon is not the robust system that we’d like to think in 2024.
“Obviously, there’s human error however we’re all skilled sufficient to seek out the place we have made an error and rectify it.
“There are plenty of times where things just don’t add up, things don’t make sense, and we don’t know where the shortfall has come from.”
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Ms Barlow, who runs a department herself, alleges Horizon “absolutely” is responsible.
She mentioned: “There are plenty of times where they can’t account for where the mistakes are coming from, they’ve checked CCTV, action logs.
“I’m positive the system has improved from 2015 however it’s nonetheless occurring. It continues to be having points. There are nonetheless loads of people who find themselves having sleepless nights.”
The Post Office mentioned there have been a number of variations of Horizon since its introduction in 1999.
A spokesperson added: “And the current version of the system, introduced from 2017, was found in the group litigation to be robust, relative to comparable systems.
“But we aren’t in any respect complacent about that and we proceed to work with our postmasters to determine and put money into enhancements.
“Current postmasters who have concerns about today’s Horizon system are encouraged to raise these with us – including directly with their area manager – so that we can help.”