NOS News•
In the controversial Post Office scandal in the United Kingdom, at least thirteen people have put an end to their lives. At least 59 people have considered that. Around 1000 employees have been prosecuted, all of which have been convicted of a few dozen. Thousands were suspended and in many cases also fired.
This is apparent from a new report drawn up by a committee of inquiry led by the former judge Wyn Williams. The affair, reminiscent of the Dutch allowance scandal, played between 1999 and 2015. The countless employees who were prosecuted were accused of embezzlement or forgery.
Wrongly, it turned out, because in reality there was a computer system that did not function. The management of the Post Office, a state -owned company, and software manufacturer Fujitsu “knew about it, or at least could have known it,” the committee writes.
The computer program was purchased around the turn of the century to keep the turnover of post offices automated throughout the country. When large amounts seemed to be missing, the leadership office holders of blackout accused and forced them to repay money that they had not stolen.
That took years. The failing software remained in use all the time, the Total costs for the taxpayer amounted to nearly 700 million euros. It led to the wrongly accused of bankrupt, lost their house, getting the drink or thus even transferred to suicide. Many were looked at by their environment, as well as their family members.
The case only came high on the agenda last year after a dramatized documentary about it had been broadcast on ITV. Mr. Bates vs The Post Office Was based on stories from the victims and led to great public indignation.
Various programs have been rigged for compensation for the victims, but in many cases their implementation is difficult. The British government, the Post Office and Fujitsu will now develop a new system together to meet the victims.
One of those who have committed themselves to the victims’ satisfaction, former post office holder Jo Hamilton, says in a response at the BBC that the report “shows the full extent of the horrors they have exposed to us”.
The Post Office goes through the dust for this “shameful chapter in our history”. “We make unconditional apologies for the suffering that the Post Office has made the branch holders and their loved ones.”
