Former Post Office operations boss admits ‘missed opportunity’ to prevent Horizon scandal

A former postmaster has lamented the “missed opportunity” to stop the Horizon IT scandal amid a public inquiry.

David Miller, chief operating officer in 2004, admitted he had not read an expert report that claimed then-Cleverley deputy postmaster Julie Wolstenholme’s There is a problem with the accounting system.

She has been seeking nearly £180,000 in funding post office Unfair dismissal in a civil case counterclaim brought by the company.

Ms Wolstenholm was later awarded a settlement of less than £25,000, meaning Jason Coyne’s critical 2003 report into the Horizon system had not come to light at the time.

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In his witness statement, Mr Miller said of a meeting with former security chief Tony Marsh: “He told me there were problems with the expert advice, which led our lawyers to say the case was unlikely to succeed. It was clear he was not I value this expert too much.

“Our view was that we should cut our losses and compensate. He said something about Horizon – I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I remember checking with him to see if there was a problem with Horizon (I said something like ;’Didn’t you say there was something wrong with Horizon, Tony?”)

“He said there was no problem and I was under the impression it was a one-off case.

“Based on what I now know about Horizon, and the way it was used to wrongfully prosecute deputy postmasters and bring civil claims, I deeply regret not reading the expert’s report and counsel’s advice.

“If I did, then I would have taken action to address the issues raised. I acknowledge that by not reading them, opportunities would have been missed.”

He acknowledged that the Coyne report had clearly not been “taken seriously enough.”

Hundreds of people were later wrongly convicted of theft because of flaws and errors in the accounting systems operated by Fujitsu that led to money appearing to be missing from its branches.

Victims face jail time and financial losses. Others were ostracized by their communities, and still others took their own lives.

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The scandal has been thrust into the spotlight again since ITV’s Mr Bates vs. the Post Office, prompting government action to speed up the process of innocence and compensation.

The inquiry also heard that a lawyer advising the Post Office in the case was told to take into account the organization’s desire to have “as little publicity as possible” about Coyne’s report.

Mr. Miller insisted the words were not his.