scte long read
Unraveling the Post Office Scandal
A 2024 Update
By Melissa Cogavin, Managing Editor, SCTE
THE GREAT POST OFFICE SCANDAL The fight to expose a multimillion pound IT disaster which put innocent people in jail NICK WALLIS
‘The definitive account of the scandal – from the journalist who pursued every twist and turn.’ MISHAL HUSAIN ‘A tale brilliantly told by Nick Wallis, who has dedicated ten years of work to establishing what happened, why it happened and calling those responsible to account. I urge you to read it.’ THE REVEREND RICHARD COLES In 2022, as part of a wider examination of what happens when digital upgrades go wrong, Broadband Journal delved into the sprawling Post Office scandal, exposing a harrowing tale of injustice and ORGANISATIONAL failure trailing back over 20 years, further to the publication of Nick Wallis’ critically acclaimed exposé. ‘Nick’s narrative has the power of a great thriller as he lays bare the lies and deceit that ruined so many lives.’ DAME JOAN BAKEWELL ‘Nick has come to understand the ultimately destructive management culture that pervaded the Post O ce from the top down.’ TOM HEDGES, FORMER SUBPOSTMASTER Nick Wallis is an award-winning freelance journalist and broadcaster. In 2010 he was contacted by a man who told him his pregnant wife had been sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Since then, Nick has pursued the Post Oce Horizon scandal, building an unparalleled understanding of the story. Nick broadcast his first investigation about the Post Oce for the BBC in 2011. The same year he took the story to Private Eye. He has subsequently made two Panoramas, a Radio 4 series, and raised thousands of pounds to crowdfund his own court reporting for the Post Oce Trial website. Using newly-uncovered documents and interviews to piece together a comprehensive picture of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in recent times, Nick has written a gripping, definitive account of this scandal.
On 23 April 2021, the Cour convictions of 39 former Sub their prosecutions were an a conscience. For some, this m the end of a 20 year battle f three Subpostmasters did no see their reputations restore The 39 were just a few of the between 2000 and 2015, we Post Oce for criminal oe false accounting and fraud. T based on evidence drawn fro Oce’s deeply flawed accou software showed apparent lo branch accounts, they were f from their own pockets, or fa livelihoods. Subpostmasters w discrepancies were sacked an lost their homes and reputat into bankruptcy. The really u to prison. This is the story of how a gro fought back to clear their na background of institutional a obfuscation, a fight dragged refusal to accept responsibili journey takes us through yea obstruction and denial, to th Court of Appeal. It also chro single-minded former Subpo lone public voice of dissent, w Post Oce – against overwh of the highest courts in the l With cries for a full public inq government to act, this story Post Oce Scandal is a gripp serve as a landmark piece of full impact of this shameful e to unravel.
“An extraordinary journalistic exposé of a huge miscarriage of justice” IAN HISLOP
ISBN 978 1 9163023 8 9
14
Volume 46 No.1 March 2024
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker