The statutory public query into the Post Office scandal went fairly undetected for nearly 2 years, however because time, those au fait with the case have actually been stunned on a nearly day-to-day basis.
The airing of ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office drama and accompanying documentary in January 2024, ultimately put the scandal centre phase in the general public discourse and it is now getting the attention it is worthy of.
Computer system Weekly has actually been following the questions considering that it started hearing proof in May 2022. Here, we note a few of the reports that make important reading for those who are reasonably brand-new to the UK’s widest-ever miscarriage of justice.
When initially established as a federal government department questions without the power to call witnesses, there was outrage and allegations of whitewashing. Following pressure from subpostmasters and their advocates, the query was put on a statutory footing, with a judge in charge and the power to call witnesses to offer proof.
There have actually been 7 stages of the questions, chaired by retired judge Wyn Williams. It started with the victims informing their stories. This was followed in October 2022 by stage 2, which saw an examination into the Horizon IT system, its procurement, style, pilot, roll-out and adjustments. At the start of 2023, came stage 3, with the operation of the Horizon system under the spotlight. Stage 4th stage, which started hearing proof in July 2023, shone the spotlight on the practices of the attorneys and private investigators associated with the prosecutions of subpostmasters. In April, a combined stage 5 and 6 started and included directors, political leaders and civil servants who, whether intentionally or not, added to the cover-up. The most recent stage to complete, stage 7, took a look at the her and now and the future.
Each instalment has actually produced stunning proof that has actually exposed hardly you can possibly imagine impropriety on the part of a British organization, as soon as related to fondly.
Computer system Weekly initially exposed the scandal in 2009, exposing the stories of 7 subpostmasters, and has actually followed it carefully since.
Wyn William, Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chair
Questions chair Wyn Williams has actually been hearing proof because May 2022.
Stage one– February 2022
Stage among the query heard witness declarations from the victims of the scandal.
Previous subpostmasters, their lives ravaged after being delegated unusual accounting, went through the agonizing experience of needing to relive traumatic durations of their lives.
This had to do with 2 years before a dramatisation of their treatment put the Post Office scandal into public discourse and political dispute.
When the drama was aired in January 2024, the general public outrage was palpable, however it did not expose anything brand-new. What it did expose was that the composed word, of which Computer Weekly has actually composed numerous thousands about the scandal given that 2009, was insufficient to capture the attention of the general public.