DPS Computing

Post Office Manager Graham Ward delivers the revelation to the Post Office Inquiry that he NEVER found ANYTHING suggesting the innocence of subpostmasters accused of wrongdoing at their Post Office branches. This is despite his involvement in high profile criminal prosecutions of subpostmasters in addition to civil cases - most notably those of Noel Thomas and Lee Castleton. Whilst seeming to understand that his role requires both 'thorough investigation' and to explore 'all reasonable avenues' of enquiry he struggles when asked by Jason Beer KC as to what his understanding of both these terms are. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard

Post Office Manager Graham Ward tells the Post Office Inquiry that he was 'not aware' of computer-based EVIDENCE requirements, despite being charged with obtaining said evidence from Fujitsu based on the Horizon data for use within Post Office prosecution cases against subpostmasters. Despite receiving no training from Fujitsu in interpreting the reports and data - including ARQ or Audit Record Query data - he says that understand the Excel spreadsheets that they sent across was 'common sense'. So why did it seem to go some badly wrong in many cases? #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard

The Post Office Inquiry continues to hear from Graham Ward, a former Post Office Security Manager as he reviews management documents that he was sent highlighting 'MAJOR Procedural Weaknesses' and Sloppy Documents without dates on. It appears from the documents that the Post Office wasn't concerned with addressing such major procedural weaknesses but instead doing their best to AVOID DISCLOSURE of those to subpostmasters legal teams so as not to undermine the prosecution cases the Post Office was bringing at the time. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard

Post Office Policy on timescales for subpostmaster investigations show that they wanted to investigators to close or prosecute accused subpostmasters within a MONTH! Questions about the thoroughness of the investigations against subpostmasters at the Post Office and whether all reasonable lines of inquiry were followed have been raised on numerous occasions and the timescales outlined in the Post Office Security team policy seem to place pressure on investigators to conclude cases within a set period of time rather than after an investigation would naturally complete. Therefore there is additional worry that cases against subpostmasters, some of which are complex, couldn't necessarily be thoroughly investigated whilst sticking to this 'must do' police from the Post Office. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard

Post Office Manager Graham Ward tells the Post Office Inquiry that 'we weren't popular' with other parts of the Post Office business including subpostmasters despite his feeling that they previously had a good relationship. He identifies cultural change in 2008/9 when a new security manager joined the team and set out his vision. Despite him saying that the culture changed for the worse and people weren't happy he says that it didn't personally affect him but said he was 'glad to leave' the team when an opportunity for secondment came up in 2012. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard

Post Office Manager Graham Ward tells the Post Office Inquiry that he would have escalated data concerns surrounding the Message Store data discussed in email between Fujitsu and the Post Office during Lee Castleton's trial (Marine Drive) had he been aware of them. As it transpires that he was aware of them, he goes on to admit that he should have escalated this concerns as they were 'very significant'. This seems like the best opportunity for the Post Office to discover what was going on and fix it at a relatively early stage of the Post Office Scandal in 2006 yet this opportunity appears to have been completely missed by the Post Office. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard #Fujitsu #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive

Lee Castleton's case was depicted by Will Mellor in the ITV Drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Graham Ward now discusses his involvement in the case that saw the Post Office being awarded over £325,000. The TERRIFYING testimony offered in the Horizon prosecution case of a subpostmaster includes an 'other events log' which has 'other data' in that no one put forward by Fujitsu as a witness for the case appears to remember the name of and the absence of Message Store data that was crucial to Lee Castleton's case and could have meant that not only did he not need to go through this, but all subpostmasters prosecuted after 2006 where there is now written proof that both Fujitsu and Post Office are now aware of. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive

Post Office confusion over CRITICAL Fujitsu Message Store data could have prevented many prosecution cases and needless heartache to innocent subpostmasters if only Post Office managers had understood what it was or it had been explained to them properly by the company that created and generated it. Despite being part of an internal Fujitsu documented process as part of an ARQ (Audit Record Query) request that the Post Office regularly made, it's not clear that this was included in any Post Office processes despite it being mentioned in cases by witnesses. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard #Fujitsu

Post Office Security Manager Graham Ward seems to accept that he had responsibilities on him similar to that of a disclosure officer but wasn't actually the disclosure officer. When asked to identify who was the disclosure officer in the cases he handled he admits that it may have been him but 'he never saw himself in that role'. So, What Disclosure Officer!? He tells the Post Office Inquiry that he was aware of the duties of disclosure to accused subpostmasters as he has repeated to the inquiry before - but were such disclosure processes always followed by the Post Office? #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard

'Horizon Didn't Prosecute Us, The Post Office Did'. We hear chilling conclusions from the solicitors representing a number of the convicted subpostmaters, including Jo Hamilton, as Phase 4 of the Post Office Inquiry is brought to a close. In this section he details how subpostmasters 'lives were utterly destroyed' by the actions of the Post Office and Fujitsu and in particular reference to Paul Patterson's testimony to the Post Office Inquiry that they'd know about 'bugs, errors and defects' in Horizon all along. We analyse the sad conclusions that help us remember that the people who have been and continue to be at the heart of the Post Office Scandal - the subpostmasters themselves and their families. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #Fujitsu #Hudgells

Post Office Manager Elaine Cottam FORGETS Her Own Court Case against subpostmaster Julie Wolstenholme when confronted with the signed sworn witness statement she provided to the court. Despite this, she tells the Post Office Inquiry that she didn't realise there was a civil court nor that there was a court case against the subpostmaster at the Cleveleys Post Office branch. The revelations don't stop there and include testimony that she wouldn't have requested Horizon Helpdesk call logs as she 'wouldn't understand' them as they are 'too technical' despite attaching them as an appendix, named with her own initials, to her sworn statement to the civil court. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #ElaineCottam

Post Office PRIORITISTED Prosecutions over Helping Subpostmasters, Graham Ward tells the Post Office Inquiry. Whilst discussing contractual limits between Fujitsu and the Post Office relating to ARQ (Audit Record Query) data that was vital in prosecutions of subposmasters he admits that it was on his mind and indeed complained about having to discuss restricting data requests from investigators with them to see if a 'shorter timeframe' was more appropriate. This could have led to vital data being missing from prosecution case files submitted by the Post Office. The most damning revelation however is that the the Post Office PRIORITISTED ARQ requests for prosecuting subpostmasters over requests from other areas of the business trying to help them. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #GrahamWard #Fujitsu #ARQData

Post Office found Subpostmasters GUILTY until proven INNOCENT in what Hudgells, solicitors for a number of convicted subpostmasters, conclude in their Closing Statement to the Post Office Inquiry where the Post Office 'reversed the burden of proof' and simultaneously denied subpostmasters access the the very audit data, itself lacking in integrity, that they required to be able to defend themselves against the allegations put to them during Post Office prosecutions. The reputation of both Fujitsu and Post Office appears to have been put across what should have been the real priority during Post Office investigations - justice. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #Hudgells

Fujitsu and Post Office KNEW Of Missing Critical Data and the lack of integrity in the data that was provided in the Post Office prosecutions of subpostmasters as the lawyers Hudgells, representing many convicted subpostmasters summarise in their Phase 4 Closing Statement to the Post Office Inquiry. A lack of motivation towards the truth and instead protection of the brand of both Fujitsu and the Post Office are cited as reasons with the main focus her being on the lack of understand from investigators of key audit data or indeed even what data was available to them. Subpostmasters had no real prospect of adequately mounting a defence to allegations due to the lack of disclosure of data relevant to their cases. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #Hudgells #subpostmasters

Phase 4 Closing Evidence from the Post Office Inquiry is added to the record from those not called to give oral testimony that is cross examined by counsel. Some interesting names appear on the list, and with their evidence due to be published, we will be sure to use this opportunity to go and review it to see what it adds to the testimony provided by witnesses since the start of Phase 4 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry that began in July 2023. Jason Beer KC provides the final statements submitted to the Post Office Inquiry. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice

Post Office Manager Elaine Cottam tells the Post Office Inquiry that she doesn't understand HER OWN Evidence! Three explanations are given for this including that she didn't write it, doesn't remember writing it and would have only done what the Horizon Helpdesk helped her to do as the situation regarding the testimony she gave for Julie Wolstenholme's civil case brought by the Post Office seems to be in disarray. Despite saying that she doesn't understand the Horizon Call Logs that she analysed, referenced in her own witness statement and presented as evidence to the court attached to her statement she does steer towards implying that others related to Mrs Wolstenholme were responsible for the losses at Cleveleys Post Office. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #ElaineCottam

Post Office and Fujitsu Legal Professionals FAILED in their duties the solicitors for a number of convicted subpostmasters concludes during his Phase 4 Closing Statement on their behalf at the Post Office Inquiry. Despite the shocking nature of training and competence failures within other areas of both businesses identified during his conclusions, by far the most shocking has to be the alleged conduct of legal staff, bound by professional obligations, in their apparent disregard for cherished standards and practices when conducting Post Office prosecutions. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #Fujitsu #Hudgells

The Post Office and Fujitsu 'REFUSED to Listen' to the pleas of desperate subpostmasters trying to make sense of what was happening to them as we analyse the Phase 4 Closing Statement of Hudgells, solicitors to some of the convicted subpostmasters, at the heart of the Post Office Scandal. Unbelievable tales of how Post Office lawyers, not satisfied with guilty pleas to false accounting - of which they were not guilty - left them demanding theft charges on flimsy, or sometimes non-existent, evidence in a effort to make 'recoveries' easier and increase the chance that subpostmasters were sent to prison for the crimes they hadn't committed. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #Fujitsu #Hudgells

Post Office had the Wrong People in the Wrong Jobs the NFSP conclude as we anaylse their closing statement to Phase 4 of the Post Office Inquiry. The describe the incompetence displayed by witnesses during this phase of the Post Office Inquiry and deliberate actions to ensure that cases against subpostmasters were not undermined by failing to request crucial ARQ (Audit Record Query) data from Fujitsu if they felt that it might compromise a case against a subpostmaster. The scathing conclusion that the Post Office was not fit to undertake the role they appointed themselves leaves no room for doubt. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #NFSP

Post Office 'Heard No Evil and Saw No Evil' yet did evil according to the NFSP closing statement to Phase 4 of the Post Office Inquiry. The NFSP are an organisation that has been criticised by former subpostmasters during the Post Office Scandal and the NFSP try to distance themselves from prior behaviours and actions by saying that there is a new NFSP of today. They highlight the disclosure failings during the Post Office prosecution of subpostmasters as well as ongoing issues with disclosure to the Post Office Inquiry and how, coupled with 'coporate amnesia', are contributing to making discovering the whole truth an extremely tough job for the Post Office Inquiry. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #NFSP

Post Office EMBEZZLED innocent subpostmasters money from 'illusory' Horizon shortfalls states Sam Stein KC representing subpostmasters at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. His powerful conclusions outline an organisation out of its depth, reaching beyond its responsibility and trailing a path of destruction behind it seemingly unfazed by the scale of human destruction that it was leaving in its wake. He explains how the poorly understood Post Office contracts were enforced without thought, and usually without sight, of the subpostmasters they affected. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #SamStein #subpostmasters

Judge tells Post Office their cases were a 'sham' in an early acquittal of a subpostmaster accused of stealing money from her branch. Despite Post Office assurances that all acquittals were reviewed, this certainly didn't seem to happen in earlier cases and this likely led to more subpostmasters being pursued that otherwise may not have been. Chances were missed to bring the Post Office Scandal to an end and instead subpostmasters are now having to relive it as some of the cases explored here from the case studies identified by the Post Office Inquiry have left innocent victims having to face their tormentors and relive their experience of this miscarriage of justice again. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #SamStein #subpostmasters

Post Office 'Bully Boys' ENJOYED Brining Us Down subpostmasters tell the Post Office Inquiry through Sam Stein KC who is representing them. Subpostmasters describe hearing evidence during Phase 4 of the Post Office Inquiry of leaving them 'incandescent with rage' as 'corporate amnesia' seems to have been inflicted on them as the devastating consequences of their actions on innocent subpostmasters is laid bare. The dehumanising treatment of subpostmasters desperate for anyone to help would leave any decent human being understandably recoiling in horror compounded by the joking from the Post Office Legal Team that Horizon concerns will 'melt away' after they 'make an example of a few of them (subpostmasters)'. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #SamStein #subpostmasters

Fujitsu used SUBPOSTMASTERS logins to 'fix' the ailing Horizon system in the face of a barrage of bugs that was plaguing the beleaguered system unknown to subpostmasters at the time. The destruction of the audit trail in Horizon would no doubt have led to the collapse of any prosecutions based upon Horizon data as the integrity of the system had been fatally undermined with the attempts to patch the system and hide errors from subpostmasters who were desperately trying to understand what was happening. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #SamStein #subpostmasters

Post Office Inquiry has seen a 'parade of liars, bullies and amnesiacs' as Sam Stein KC, representing some of the subpostmasters, delivers his conclusions at Phase 4 of the Post Office Inquiry. He characterises the Post Office as a 'chorus of cowards' as he systemically points out the wrongdoing and wilful bad behaviour of those involved at the organisation and how the 'cannot even look them in the face' when referring to subpostmasters present at the Post Office Inquiry. Join us for our analysis of his powerful final conclusions. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #SamStein