Richard Morgan KC - Post Office Inquiry

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC Outlines His Involvement in Post Office Cases as he begins his testimony to the Post Office Inquiry. He makes corrections to his witness statement, largely based on new documentation that has been provided to him subsequently by the Post Office Inquiry. He outlines, from the records of his Chambers, his involvement in cases but believes that the only case he was involved in that led to substantial action was the case of Lee Castleton. He outlines his area of expertise in commercial litigation. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC

Post Office FEARED a 'Flood of Cases' from subpostmasters amid Horizon Concerns as they sought the advice of Richard Morgan KC who is questioned about the initial meeting between himself, colleagues and Post Office lawyers and General Counsel Susan Crichton at the Post Office Inquiry. Richard Morgan KC says that he has limited recollection of the meeting although discusses details of the attendance note from the meeting outlining the fears that Post Office had amid the a group litigation being launched by subpostmasters as well as a legal firm preparing dozens of claims against the Post Office in 2012. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC explains the attendance note to the Post Office Inquiry where it is stated that the Post Office are 'DAMNED if they do and DAMNED if they don't as he outlines the no-win scenario that they have painted themselves into by bringing action against subpostmasters on shaky legal ground. When discussing the prospect of an independent report in the face of a 'flood of cases' being brought by pursued subpostmasters the attendance note explains that if the expert found no issues with Horizon they would be accused of a "whitewash" and if they did find issues that the 'floodgate of legal cases' would open up. He tells the Post Office Inquiry that it is fair to advise the Post Office to not commission the report as, essentially, no good can come from it for the Post Office. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC AGGRESSIVELY Accused SPM Lee Castleton of 'making figures up' at trial as he testifies to the Post Office Inquiry. He explains multiple times in his witness statement that it was hard to prove Horizon was working but denies that the Post Office ever confirmed that they were having problems with Fujitsu Horizon. Despite this, he said that it made sense to not rely on Horizon evidence as it didn't even prove a loss had occurred - merely proving that 'a machine' had done 'a calculation' and come to a figure and that different evidence was required to prove a loss had occurred at a Post Office. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive

Post Office Barrister AVOIDED Horizon for an 'easy' case he explains to the Post Office Inquiry insisting avoiding 'Horizon produced evidence' would make things more straightforward. Jason Beer KC asks about his approach to Lee Castleton's case - the case Richard Morgan KC identifies that he had involvement in that led to 'significant' action and says that it was easier to adjust the case to rely on documentation that was signed by a subpostmaster rather than the 'impossible' task of proving that Horizon errors hadn't contributed to the issues faced by subpostmasters. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive

Post Office Barrister FIRMLY Disagrees with the definition of a 'Horizon produced document' definition with Jason Beer KC as they discuss the documentation from Lee Castleton's case at the Marine Drive Post Office. He disputes that Lee Castleton said the documents were inaccurate, despite his numerous logged calls to the helpline saying precisely that saying that once he signed a document produced by Horizon it 'became his document'. Richard Morgan KC attempts to explain the position that losses could be proved without Horizon produced documentation, despite the fact that some of the 'primary documentation' he references has precisely come from the Horizon system. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC answers questions from Jason Beer KC about an attendance note created at a meeting involving him and Post Office lawyers and General Counsel at the Post Office Inquiry. The attendance note suggests that the Post Office 'discuss with MPs privately' any cases that they are 'interested in' in an attempt to get to the bottom of any issues they are having with the Fujitsu Horizon system. There is also a suggestion that a 'PR exercise' is carried out to make the Post Office look good and placate subpostmasters by asking them to share their feedback on Horizon with the Post Office and any issues they have faced. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC explains he was CONCERNED that Horizon Data Could Be Tampered With and is shown a note sharing similar concerns from Stephen Dilley, his instructing solicitor at the time. The Lee Castleton case was pursued with the intention of avoiding Horizon data if at all necessary - was this due to concerns over the integrity of Horizon or due to other reasons? Richard Morgan KC explains that the lack of error notices produced means that the paper documentation and Horizon input is likely to match and equates this to accurate output being produced. But did the bugs, errors and defects now known to be in Horizon mean this was the case? #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive #StephenDilly

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC Compares Post Office Case against Lee Castleton to a 'Second Hand Car' as he testifies to the Post Office Inquiry. He tells Jason Beer KC that had he known about unaudited and unauditable remote access by Fujitsu to Horizon that he 'thinks' he would have been uncomfortable acting in the face of such adverse information for their case. He says he would have 'kicked the tyres more' to ensure that he was comfortable with the case he was brining forward on behalf of the Post Office. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive

Post Office Barrister Richard Morgan KC is Notified that Horizon is 'LOSING Transactions' by his instructing solicitor Stephen Dilley at Bond Pearce in evidence shown to the Post Office Inquiry. Richard Morgan KC previously asks a pertinent question to the Post Office recorded in an attendance note of a telephone conversation where he asks if there have been any other Horizon cases brought where the subpostmaster has questioned to operation of Horizon. This is another question that he doesn't recall getting an answer to and indeed no answer is ever logged. Despite this, and saying he wanted to be aware so he could perform 'risk management' on Lee Castleton's case he proceeds without an answer and the Post Office doesn't make him aware of any specific issues with Horizon. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #PostOfficeLegal #PostOfficeBarrister #RichardMorganKC #LeeCastleton #MarineDrive