Post Office/Horizon Scandal

In 2000, the Post Office introduced Horizon accounting software to all its branches, which are run by sub-postmasters. The software, developed by Fujitsu, was faulty and incorrectly recorded that money was missing from the branch accounts. This led to the Post Office prosecuting sub-postmasters for theft, fraud, and false accounting.

In 2009, faults in the software were exposed by Computer Weekly, but it took another ten years, until December 2019, for a high court judge to rule that Horizon contained bugs that could have altered the sub-postmasters’ accounts. By then, more than 900 people had been wrongly convicted and some were wrongfully imprisoned.

In 2024, following media attention, parliament passed legislation — the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences 2024 — to overturn the convictions.

The criminal convictions, debts, bankruptcies, and loss of jobs caused huge emotional stress for the sub-postmasters and their families. 13 deaths by suicide have been linked to the scandal.

Want to know more? postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk

The Post Office and Fujitsu were aware of serious glitches and faults in Horizon when the system was introduced in 2000.

During investigations, the Post Office changed witness statements to remove any references to problems with the Horizon system. Later, during the sub-postmasters’ trials, it failed to disclose evidence that could have supported their defence.

26 sub-postmasters from Northern Ireland were wrongly convicted, but it took a further two years and a legal change for their convictions to be overturned. This was because the law to overturn convictions initially only applied to England and Wales.

“These were not mistakes but deliberate lies, cover‑ups and deceits, which […] led to innocent, upstanding members of the community being prosecuted, bankrupted and, in some cases, sadly taking their own lives”

Kevan Jones MP

“If only they had been open and honest from the start, we could have got to the bottom of this and it would have been less painful for everybody”

Lee Castleton, a former sub-postmaster and campaigner