Post Office scandal

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paperboy
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Joined: 05 Jul 2011, 22:56
For anyone with time on their hands watching the Inquiry live stream on YouTube can be quite interesting depending on who is in the witness box.

Today is a good day to watch!
asl
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Yes, was keeping an eye on today's squirming!

I only caught up with the dramatisation last night, but someone had asked me earlier in the week about Fujitsu's culpability, given my line of work. I responded that they were probably fireproof because they would have delivered a project that had been tested and signed off by the customer. However, from the dramatisation, it appears they were actually running it as a managed service - in which case, they're going to be in a lot of trouble!
Red Duke
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Location: North West
One of the most obvious first thing to check is whether there had been keying errors at the local post office. This can be done by cross checking against a printed list of transactions to eliminate human error at the local terminal.

This appears never to have been done. The immediate conclusion was the sub posties were on the fiddle as it fitted the belief by the top management that it has always gone on and now they had the proof.
asl
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Apparently, the money that was paid back by the victims despite not being 'missing' in the first place, ended up in a suspense account. After a while, it was moved from suspense into the P&L. Somewhere, an auditor is waking up in a cold sweat...
ctfc-fan
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There’s certainly going to be some heads rolling. The Solicitors are in deep s#!t when it is done in court.
paperboy
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It'll take years but when the guilty parties end up in prison- and they will. .....it will make other people think twice before they embark on cover ups in the future.
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longmover
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paperboy wrote: 12 Jan 2024, 20:11 It'll take years but when the guilty parties end up in prison- and they will. .....it will make other people think twice before they embark on cover ups in the future.
doubt it, its very much worth the risk, look at the clowns we have running the country and what they have got away with.
paperboy
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The case of the poor lady who ran Hatherley Post Office cropped up briefly at the end of yesterdays hearings.

I think her conviction has been quashed now, but when we come into this world we only have one life.

It's not a computer game where you get 3 chances so I've been getting more and more angry this past year with politicians, celebrities and others getting found out about various matters and then saying "I apologise".

They only do this once they've been rumbled and in the case of the Post Office they've ruined the one and only life that those wrongly convicted have.

Rant over- for now.
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Shade
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That resonates with something unrelated I saw on ITV news last night - a guy in jail for killing another guy outside a pub 10 years ago. The only witness, and the main reason the guy was convicted, has said that he was drunk and only saw the person he thought he saw for a split second. The murdered man's brother wants the guy released. But it's likely to take years before anything might happen about it, despite a new appeal being lodged. The guy, who has been in prison for 10 years, found guilty on next to no evidence, continues to lose years of his life.

It all comes down to the systems and people in charge not doing good enough, and not working for the people.
asl
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Another Post Office investigator finding the Horizon inquiry a little bit uncomfortable... So "65% recovery of branch shortfalls" was a performance metric that contributed towards his (and other investigator's) annual bonus? Hmm....
paperboy
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Yes he was pinned on that by the emails yet an earlier investigator was evasive and couldn't really remember.😗

A very powerful piece on the One Show tonight where it was reiterated that serious charges including fraud,perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice will be layed against those involved.
asl
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Interesting one, today, with another investigator. This guy had to be compelled to attend because he no longer works for the PO so he "wasn't being paid to attend" and had done the bare minimum in terms of a witness statement. He was clearly shifty and uncomfortable being grilled. One of his 'victims' from North Uist has since been cleared. When asked if he thought he was guilty despite that, this investigator replied "yes". What a complete barsteward that investigator is, clearly.

However....... This part of the inquest included transcripts of the interviews during which this sub-postmaster unambiguously admitted that he had used PO funds to prop up his failing shop business, deliberately taking PO cash and depositing it in his own business accounts in order to pay off his Cash and Carry bills. Despite this, his conviction was quashed along with dozens of other Scottish claimants.

This got me thinking that, despite the clear miscarriages of justice that have obviously occurred, laws of averages dictate that at least some of those convicted were probably actually guilty, with or without the help of Horizon - but the involvement of that software has meant *all* convictions are unsafe.
paperboy
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Because wheels are turning too slowly I believe that in England ALL convictions etc are being quashed and compensation paid out meaning as you say there will be a small percentage of sub postmaster who were in fact guilty getting compensation erroneously.
Think our own Alex Chalk may have had a hand in that.
In Scotland however the chief law officer won't do that so the innocent will be kept waiting so that a small guilty percentage don't get off.
If we were talking about violent offences rather than false accounting I could understand her position, but she needs to smell the coffee.
paperboy
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For anyone wanting some light relief from deadline day drama this might be 18 minutes of amusing dialogue to listen to.
I started by thinking that this witness was possibly the most over promoted person on the planet to thinking that maybe she is just in need of help.

https://youtu.be/EnhLw5eZ0Sg?si=RNySqdzzZVftUNsP
asl
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Today's former PO investigator got absolutely taken apart this afternoon. The barrister was quite gentle in the morning session - but I think he got a scent of blood soon after lunch and absolutely tore the guy a new one.
paperboy
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Ah thanks.
It was quite cordial this morning so I must catch up with the PM.
paperboy
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Not a guest list many of them wants to be on.

https://www.postofficehorizoninquiry.or ... es-5-and-6
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Malabus
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Location: The Death Star.
paperboy
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asl
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Mr Beer KC, appears to be getting quiety annoyed with the latest witness, Rodric Williams (former litigation lawyer and now head of Legal at POL).

Meanwhile, Mr Williams' face has adopted an expression of permanent confusion as if he doesn't really understand why he has been asked to appear nor why Mr Beer is asking the questions he is.
paperboy
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asl wrote: 18 Apr 2024, 14:15 Mr Beer KC, appears to be getting quiety annoyed with the latest witness, Rodric Williams (former litigation lawyer and now head of Legal at POL).

Meanwhile, Mr Williams' face has adopted an expression of permanent confusion as if he doesn't really understand why he has been asked to appear nor why Mr Beer is asking the questions he is.
I'm only an hour in listening to our Rodric and I'm thinking why did this sanctimonious clown choose England when he could have perhaps chosen Rwanda....or anywhere really, when he left NZ.
He's being questioned again tomorrow too.
Love Island beckons for him I reckon.

Radacanu is on Sky shortly, then it's the Robins live stream.....I'm really spoilt for choice.
asl
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Angela van den Bogerd next week! That one will be fun if the portrayal of her role in the dramatisation is anything close to reality.
paperboy
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asl wrote: 18 Apr 2024, 17:46 Angela van den Bogerd next week! That one will be fun if the portrayal of her role in the dramatisation is anything close to reality.
Ha ha, yes.

Whetting our appetite for top of the bill, The Very ,Very, Right Reverend Paula in May, if she hasn't taken a trip to B &Q by then.
asl
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Today's session is fun! Mr Beer KC has really started to pull AvdB apart. She's got another day and a half of this!
paperboy
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asl wrote: 25 Apr 2024, 10:43 Today's session is fun! Mr Beer KC has really started to pull AvdB apart. She's got another day and a half of this!
In fairness he's got a lot of ammunition to use.

His best line this morning was " was this something you just airbrushed from your mind"

A fun article on her here being lambasted by a high court judge.

https://www.postofficetrial.com/2020/04 ... -what.html
asl
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Lovely! I liked Mr Beer asking "did you forget about this email, too?"

It's quite clear she was deliberately withholding pertinent information back in 2012. It's quite clear that she lied on her witness statement about what she knew and when.

Beer is going harder at her than he has others. If he's this hard on her, what on earth is Mr Stein KC going to be like??
paperboy
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However did the Football Association of Wales ever think someone as toxic was the standout candidate to be Head of People😀.
It didn't end well.
asl
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Paula Vennells, for the rest of the week - the one we've all been waiting for. Pretty sure it'll be Beer leading the questioning.

Mr Beer has the line of inquest so far, imho... Last week, the software being used to display the documents on the main screen crashed:

"I'm sorry, Sir...we seem to have hit a Bug with the system...or maybe I should say 'an anomaly'."

Well it made me laugh in the context of what we've been hearing!
ctfc-fan
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Image

This picture says it all when the silly cow started crying earlier.
paperboy
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Joined: 05 Jul 2011, 22:56
Tiring day trying to keep up with the PO enquiry and the news coming out of the Completely ****** Stadium.

However Jason Beer's top line to Paula today as she tried to deny meaning something she had written made me smile.

" So you are saying there was a misunderstanding between you and the keyboard you were typing on ?" 🤣
paperboy
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asl
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He'll come out of this with a gong - probably a knighthood. No doubt, whatsoever.
asl
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Just catching up with yesterday's inquiry feed with Andy Dunks (Fujitsu IT Security Analyst). It's been a couple of weeks since I last tuned in as the witness list was unappealing but, having worked (and still work) most of my career in 2nd/3rd line IT development and support roles, I thought he might be interesting.

Dear Lord...this guy gives IT in general a Bad Name... If he were my manager, I'd be looking to either have him removed from post or, at the very least, prevented from signing off on anything he had no knowledge about. I've actually done both in my 35 years in the business - more than once, in fact.

This bloke is a total bull-sh1tter and how he ever came to be employed - let alone put in a position of any responsibility - is a mystery.
paperboy
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They're all pretty much as bad as each other.

I used to wonder why people got hooked on Big Brother, but now with the PO inquiry I can understand the addiction.

I do sometimes just read the excellent Nick Wallis synopsis on twitter however.
paperboy
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This little gem popped up again today.

https://x.com/stugoo17/status/180810525 ... oUhmg&s=19

One small part of me hopes that she's getting the help that she seems to need, but the bigger part wonders if she is..

As thick as...

Spending hers days in Wetherspoons.

Giving a Bafta winning performance.
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