Frederick Thorpe - Post Office Inquiry

Today at the Post Office Inquiry we hear from Frederick Leslie Thorpe who is a former Post Office INVESTIGATOR who used to be a SUBPOSTMASTER. His opening testimony to the Post Office Inquiry is very interesting, not least because his background seems to stand out from other Post Office Investigators that have been witnesses in that he does appear to say that he has suitable investigatory qualifications and experience as well as experience of being a subpostmaster in a Post Office himself. Surely this could only bode well for the cases that he's involved in? We analyse his background and testimony to the Post Office Inquiry. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #FrederickLeslieThorpe #PostOfficeInvestigator

Frederick Thorpe, former Post Office Investigation manager details how he took over the North East of England and when his equivalents in Northern Ireland and Scotland retired he also took on their jobs despite not appreciating the differences in law applying to the jurisdictions he was managing. Whilst tasked with being a team leader, Frederick Thorpe details how he was too busy working, as they were a small team, to effectively manage them. But the most damning revelation is when he says that Post Office Legal Services, who he reached out to for help when investigating cases against subpostmasters, Didn't Know the LAW of the jurisdictions the Post Office were operating in and 'couldn't help'! #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #FrederickThorpe #PostOfficeInvestigation

Post Office Investigator Training 'Made Up As We Went Along' according to witness Frederick Thorpe, former Post Office Investigator. In line with previous testimony, Horizon training is limited to its use and a single day without any training on analysis of the data. Investigator training is led by other investigators but not formalised as to structure, content or assessment and doesn't include the law of the jurisdictions that they are managing cases in nor access to a legal time that has awareness of said law either. Unsurprisingly, the first case submitted is sent back as 'rubbish' by the Police Service of Northern Ireland... #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #FrederickThorpe #PostOfficeInvestigation

Frederick Thorpe, former Post Office Investigator says Post Office Investigations ran with ZERO Guidelines prompting an investigator to develop a process which was then clarified to be copied from England after the Police in Northern Ireland rejected a 'rubbish' case file submitted for a Post Office Prosecution of a subpostmaster accused of stealing for their branch. It is clear from statements that the ability of anyone to manage such a large geographic area, let alone the number of cases that would entail, was seemingly not possible. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #FrederickThorpe #PostOfficeInvestigations

Post Office Special Audits appear to be characterised as fact finding to support a conclusion rather than an impartial investigation as 'we'd already made up our mind' to bring a criminal prosecution when the special audits were organised based on 'discrepencies' highlighted by a central office. The Post Office Inquiry hears from Frederick Thorpe who outlines what a special audit is and how they were run by the Post Office when prosecuting subpostmasters for alleged misconduct at their branches. #PostOfficeInquiry #PostOfficeScandal #PostOffice #FrederickThorpe #PostOfficeInvestigation #PostOfficeAudit