A Post Office fraud investigator today told an inquiry he was never informed of issues with the Horizon IT system by superiors and is ‘not technically minded’ – as he denied ‘acting life a Mafia gangster’.
Stephen Bradshaw has been employed at the Post Office since 1978 and was involved in the criminal investigation of nine subpostmasters, including Lisa Brennan, a former counter clerk at a post office in Huyton, near Liverpool.
She was wrongly convicted of stealing £3,000 in 2003, leading to a spiral of misery that saw her lose her marriage and attempt an overdose before becoming homeless with her daughter – relying on family members for food.
Appearing as a witness to the Post Office Horizon inquiry this morning, Mr Bradshaw said he was never told of concerns about the accounting software ‘from the people above’ and did not have the technical knowledge to know whether it was faulty.
He denied claims he and others ‘behaved like Mafia gangsters’ who were looking to collect ‘bounty with the threats and lies’ from subpostmasters. It follows the revelation that fraud investigators received a bonus for each postmaster they jailed.
Mr Bradshaw also told the inquiry that a 2012 statement signed by him declaring the Post Office’s ‘absolute confidence’ in Horizon was written by lawyers from the law firm Cartwright King.
Stephen Bradshaw has been employed at the Post Office since 1978 and was involved in the criminal investigation of nine subpostmasters
Mr Bradshaw investigated Lisa Brennan, a former counter clerk at a post office in Huyton, near Liverpool, who was falsely accused of stealing £3,000 in 2003
Mr Bradshaw has also been accused by fellow Merseyside subpostmistress Rita Threlfall of asking her for the colour of her eyes and what jewellery she wore before saying: ‘Good, so we’ve got a description of you for when they come’, during her interview under caution in August 2010.’
Another subpostmistress, Jacqueline McDonald, claimed she was ‘bullied’ by the investigator during an investigation into her alleged £50,000 shortfall.
Responding to Ms McDonald’s claims in his statement, the witness said: ‘I refute the allegation that I am a liar.
‘I also refute the claim that Jacqueline McDonald was bullied, from the moment we arrived, the auditor was already on site, conversations were initially (held) with Mr McDonald, the reason for our attendance was explained, Mr and Mrs McDonald were kept updated as the day progressed.’
The investigator added: ‘Ms Jacqueline McDonald is also incorrect in stating Post Office investigators behaved like Mafia gangsters looking to collect their bounty with the threats and lies.’
Throughout his witness statement, Mr Bradshaw said his investigations had been conducted in a ‘professional’ manner.
Counsel to the inquiry Julian Blake first asked the witness: ‘Do you think that you have given enough thought over the past 20 years as to whether you may have been involved in what has been described as one of the largest miscarriages of justice in British history?’
Mr Bradshaw replied: ‘It would appear that through not being given any knowledge from top downwards that if any bugs, errors or defects were there it’s not been cascaded down from Fujitsu, the Post Office board down to our level as the investigations manager.
‘I had no reason to suspect at the time that there was anything wrong with the Horizon system because we’d not been told. The investigations were done correctly.
‘The investigations were done at the time, no problems were indicated by anybody that there was issues with the Horizon system.’
Seeking to establish when Mr Bradshaw became aware of problems with Horizon, counsel Mr Blake brought up an email in which a colleague sent the investigator a list of links to news articles reporting on concerns about the system.
He also showed the inquiry an email from Mr Bradshaw to the Horizon call centre in which he asked for a log of calls in relation to problems with the software.
‘Didn’t that cause you pause for thought?’ Mr Blake asked.
Mr Bradshaw replied that he took this information into account, but was not ‘technically minded’ and would expect that to come from the ‘people above’.
Mr Bradshaw told the inquiry that a statement signed by him declaring the Post Office’s ‘absolute confidence’ in the Horizon IT system was written by lawyers from the law firm Cartwright King.
The statement signed by the investigator in November 2012 said: ‘The Post Office continues to have absolute confidence in the robustness and integrity of its Horizon system.’
Asked if it was appropriate for him to declare ‘confidence’ in the IT system in the 2012 statement, he said: ‘I was given that statement by Cartwright King and told to put that statement through.
‘In hindsight…there probably should have been another line stating, ‘These are not my words’.’
Hundreds of Post Office branch managers who were wrongly convicted in the Horizon IT scandal could have their names cleared by the end of the year (Stock image)
The statutory inquiry, which began in 2021 and is chaired by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, has previously looked at the human impact of the scandal, the Horizon system roll-out and the operating of the system, and is now probing the action taken against subpostmasters.
The probe was established to ensure there is a ‘public summary of the failings which occurred with the Horizon IT system at the Post Office’ and subsequently led to the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters.
Counsel to the inquiry Mr Blake put to Mr Bradshaw that he ‘pressed on’ with investigating subpostmistress Jacqueline McDonald because the issue of ‘Horizon integrity would have a wider impact on the business’.
Mr Blake showed Mr Bradshaw his ‘self-appraisal’ of Ms McDonald’s case, in which he said: ‘The offender pleaded guilty to false accounting but would not accept theft.
‘I challenged the recommendations of the barrister and persuaded him that a trial would be necessary, as the reason given by the defendant, Horizon integrity, would have a wider impact on the business if a trial did not go ahead.’
Mr Blake then asked the witness: ‘It seems, certainly from your own feedback, from your own appraisal, that you saw it as in some way career-boosting to press on with Ms McDonald’s case because of problems with the Horizon system having a wider impact on the business, do you not accept that?’
Mr Bradshaw responded: ‘The issue would been discussed with the prosecution barrister, as you’re well aware, when you’re filling in one-to-ones, there’s always a flamboyant way of putting the words across.’
It’s previously emerged that another Post Office investigator who dismissed Horizon victims as ‘crooks’ was given cash bonuses for each postmaster that was convicted.
Long-serving employee Gary Thomas told the Post Office Horizon inquiry an incentive scheme including ‘bonus objectives’ had influenced his behaviour as an investigator.
In one email exchange with a colleague while he was the lead investigator in the case of posthumously cleared postmaster Julian Wilson, the security team worker said he wanted to prove there was ‘no ‘Case for the Justice of Thieving Subposters’.’
Mr Wilson was wrongfully convicted of stealing £27,000 at his Post Office in Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, in 2008. He died aged 67 from bowl cancer in 2016 and didn’t live to see his name cleared.
His conviction was overturned five years later in 2021. His widow, Karen, has since said her husband had talked about suicide and believed the stressed caused by the Horizon IT scandal had contributed to his early death.
It comes as campaigner Alan Bates said the legal fight will continue for some postmasters after the Government made an initial offer of just £75,000 compensation to those who were hounded by the Post Office – and had to pay back cash – but who were never convicted of any offence.
Julian Wilson was wrongfully convicted of stealing £27,000 at his Post Office in Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, in 2008. He died aged 67 from bowl cancer in 2016 and didn’t live to see his name cleared
Mr Wilson’s widow Karen (pictured holding a picture of her late husband) said he had talked about suicide and believed the stressed caused by the Horizon IT scandal had contributed to his early death
Another Post Office investigator, Gary Thomas, dismissed victims of the Horizon scandal as ‘crooks’ in an email to a colleague
Mr Thomas was shown an email chain between himself and a colleague in 2015 as he gave evidence to the inquiry in which he said he was ‘pleased’ to get documents relating to Mr Wilson’s case, reported The Telegraph.
When asked why, he wrote back: ‘Because I want to prove that there is FFFFiiinnn no ‘Case for the Justice of Thieving Subpostmasters’ and that we were the best Investigators they ever had and they were all crooks!!’
He admitted during evidence that his words were ‘absolutely disgraceful’ and he was ’embarrassed’ for inferring that everyone was guilty.
Shamed former Post Office chief Paula Vennells has already succumbed to mounting pressure and handed back her CBE over the fallout, and now she may be forced to pay back £2million in bonuses if the inquiry finds her as a ‘guilty party’.
Postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake told the BBC that removing her bonuses ‘could be a sanction we place on her’.
Ms Vennells, 64, pocketed more than £100,000 a year in bonuses on top of her £320,000 a year wage.
It saw her money swell by £2.2million over her seven-year tenure as Post Office chief from 2012 until she stepped down in 2019 – the same year she received her biggest payout of £245,000, reported The Times.
It emerged yesterday that hundreds of wrongly-convicted branch managers could have their names cleared by the end of the year.
Blanket legislation to exonerate subpostmasters convicted in England and Wales will be introduced within weeks and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said they were victims of ‘one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history’.
The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which highlighted the scandal earlier this month.
Alan Bates, the campaigning former sub-postmaster an ITV drama centred on, welcomed the ‘good news’ but said the fight is not over for many of those still awaiting compensation.
Post Office victim Alan Bates (pictured) has said the legal fight will continue for those waiting for compensation for the Horizon scandal
Hasmukh Shingadia, 63, and his wife Chandrika pictured outside their Spar shop in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where Kate Middleton was a regular shopper
Rishi Sunak has been praised by the Princess of Wales’ former postmaster after PM unveiled a law to quash convictions
Hasmukh Shingadia used to serve Haribo and Doritos to the princess and her sister Pippa at his Spar and Post Office in Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire, when they were teenagers
‘It is a leap forward, but it ain’t over yet,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme.
‘The devil is in the detail and we’re yet to see that. We’re still going to have to keep pushing the whole issue forward until everyone is sorted.’
Mr Sunak was praised by Kate Middleton’s ex postmaster after the PM unveiled a law to quash convictions.
Hasmukh Shingadia, 63, used to serve Haribo and Doritos to the Princess of Wales and her sister Pippa at his Spar and Post Office in Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire, when they were teenagers.
Mr Shingadia told : ‘To all the other sub-postmasters, it’s wonderful really.
‘They will be able to go around with their heads held high.’
His conviction was overturned in 2021, much to the delight of his local community in West Berkshire.
‘The drama… it’s struck a chord in people’s hearts.
‘People have started crying in the shop in front of me, saying now they understand what I must have gone through – me, my daughters, my wife.
‘That drama really drove a point home.
‘Thank you very much for Alan Bates, to Jo Hamilton and to MP James Arbuthnot.
‘If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t have got to where we are today.
‘Now it’s out in the open.’
He said the big bosses ‘have to’ see jail time and ‘have got to be held to account’.
Mr Sunak said he was determined to ‘right the wrongs of the past’
Mr Bates Vs the Post Office has sparked huge public fury about the Horizon Post Office scandal
In a round of interviews this morning, postal services minister Kevin Hollinrake said a blanket exoneration of convictions would be a ‘very significant step’, but the government recognised the scale of the miscarriage of justice
Toby Jones as Alan Bates in the new series Mr Bates vs the Post Office
Yet for now, he said people need to let the inquiry continue.
He said: ‘They knew all along something was wrong but nothing was done.
‘They knew all along there was a fault with the system.’
He added: ‘They really have to answer questions and explain why all this went on and why they ruined so many lives and businesses.’
Hundreds of subpostmasters were convicted of swindling money on the basis of evidence from the flawed Horizon accounting system, with MPs told the Post Office showed ‘not only incompetence but malevolence’ in the way it acted against them.
The scale of the scandal has prompted the Government to adopt the unconventional approach of new legislation, rather than requiring individuals to challenge their convictions.
Ministers acknowledged the plan could result in some subpostmasters who did commit crimes being wrongly cleared, but insisted the process was the most effective way of dealing with the vast majority who were victims of a miscarriage of justice.
Downing Street said the ‘ambition’ was for the plan to be implemented by the end of the year.
At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Sunak said: ‘This is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history.
‘People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation.’
Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more if they go through a process of having their claim individually assessed.
Mr Sunak also announced a £75,000 offer for subpostmasters involved in a group legal action against the Post Office – with ministers setting aside up to £1 billion for compensation.
Mr Hollinrake told MPs that just 95 out of more than 900 convictions have been overturned.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops
Post Office boss Paula Vennells yesterday announced she was handing back her CBE with ‘immediate effect’ after more than 1 million people signed a petition calling for her honour to be revoked
Ms Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system
The usual method for overturning a conviction would see the Criminal Cases Review Commission sending it to the Court of Appeal for a hearing.
But the unprecedented scale of the Horizon scandal means the Government is introducing the legislation route rather than relying on a potentially lengthy court process.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has been discussing the situation with senior judges because of the constitutional concern about Parliament being seen to interfere with the legal system.
The Horizon software started to be rolled out in Post Office branches across the UK in 1999 and over the subsequent years a series of subpostmasters were prosecuted over missing funds.
In 2019 the High Court ruled that Horizon contained a number of ‘bugs, errors and defects’ and there was a ‘material risk’ that shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts were caused by the system.
Mr Hollinrake acknowledged the Government’s plan would result in some people who actually did commit crimes having their convictions quashed and being able to claim compensation.
But he insisted it is the best way to address swiftly the injustice suffered by those caught up in the Horizon scandal who have seen ‘lives ruined by this brutal and arbitrary exercise of power’.
‘Some of those convictions will have relied on the evidence of the discredited Horizon system. Others will have been the result of appalling failures of the Post Office’s investigation and prosecution functions,’ he said.
He said evidence from the public inquiry into the Post Office scandal showed ‘not only incompetence but malevolence in many of their actions’.
A file image of the post office Fujitsu Horizon IT system from the year 2000
Sir David Davis (pictured) has said the computer firm that built the faulty Horizon system which saw hundreds of Post Office workers jailed should pay up
Mr Hollinrake acknowledged the Government’s novel approach was not ‘foolproof’.
‘I’m sure that a great many people were wrongly convicted in this scandal, but I cannot tell the House that all those prosecuted were indeed innocent, or even that it was 90 per cent or 80 per cent or 70 per cent. Without retrying every case we cannot know.
‘The risk is that instead of unjust convictions, we shall end up with unjust acquittals and we just do not know how many.’
He added: ‘As far as possible, we want to avoid guilty people walking away with hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money. But we cannot make the provision of compensation subject to a detailed examination of guilt.’
As a safeguard, those involved will sign a statement saying they did not commit the crime of which they were accused, with anyone subsequently found to have signed that untruthfully putting themselves at risk of prosecution for fraud.
It came as Post Office branch managers have told how their lives were torn apart by the Horizon scandal – and how many are still waiting for proper redress.
News that the convicted would be exonerated thanks to a new law, as announced by Rishi Sunak, was treated with caution by many who remain suspicious of the authorities.
Will Harrison saw his mother Sam die last year aged 54 without receiving proper redress for the losses inflicted on her. He said he had heard too many unfulfilled promises. He said: ‘It’s all very well the politicians standing there making promises, but I won’t believe it until I see it. They are only doing stuff now because it’s so much in the public eye. Why didn’t they care this much over the last 20 years?
‘People like [former Post Office boss] Paula Vennells need to be in court. Many families were left destitute. My poor mum was one of them. And nobody is getting the compensation they deserve.’
Sam Harrison was one of the 555 claimants in the Bates v Post Office High Court case on which the ITV drama was based. She ran a tiny Post Office in Nawton, North Yorks, in the early 2000s.
The faulty Horizon system wrongly reported a £3,000 shortfall. Sam only avoided prosecution by paying back the money.
Mr Harrison, 33, of York, added: ‘We can only draw a line under this when everyone receives full compensation, a full apology from the Post Office and the Government, and everyone responsible is held to account.’
Alison Hall ran a post office in Liversedge, West Yorkshire. She was suspended in 2010 over a shortfall of £15,000. She admitted false accounting, but her conviction was overturned three years ago. She said: ‘This has been a living nightmare. Nobody from the Post Office has ever apologised.’
Lee Castleton, a former sub-postmaster from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, was pursued for the repayment of £25,000 at his Marine Drive branch. The married father-of-two, who is portrayed in the ITV drama by Will Mellor, was not criminally prosecuted but his failed legal action to challenge the debt led to him being held liable for £321,000 in legal costs and he was later declared bankrupt.
Last night, he cast doubt on the new law to automatically clear all those who were convicted. He said: ‘[Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake] said there may be some guilty people in there.
‘People will have to sign a document that said they hadn’t committed fraud, but with the caveat they would prosecute anybody who had misled them, it feels like everyone will be tarred with a small bit of suspicion.’
Mohammed Rasul was convicted of false accounting over a £12,000 shortfall at his post office, which he paid back. He said: ‘I worked for them for 27 years. I had to wear a tag for three months and was given a suspended sentence 12 months.
‘I’ve carried the shame ever since. I became a total recluse. The only people I saw regularly were my parents and my wife.
‘Although I knew I hadn’t done it, it was just the stigma attached. You had to explain if anyone asked what had happened.’
Janet Skinner worked for the Post Officefor 12 years until 2006 when she was suspended for a shortfall of £59,000. She was jailed for nine months and served three months, with the rest on home curfew. Speaking about her time in prison, she said: ‘It’s horrendous, it’s the worst thing you could go through.’
Scott Darlington ran Alderley Edge Post Office, in Cheshire, for four years before he was convicted in 2010. He couldn’t get another job for three and a half years.
He said: ‘I couldn’t afford to pay for my daughter’s school uniform. I suffered awful stigma and embarrassment and financial distress ever since.’
Vipin Patel, from Oxford, was wrongfully prosecuted in 2011 over supposed shortfalls. His conviction was one of the very first to be overturned at Southwark Crown Court in 2020, but he has yet to receive a penny in compensation. Son Varchas said: ‘His health was shattered and he hasn’t yet received any compensation.’
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