The boss of Fujitsu's European arm says the IT firm has "clearly let society down and the sub-postmasters down" for its role in the Post Office scandal
While facing a public inquiry, Paul Patterson admits there were "bugs, errors and defects" with the Horizon software "right from the very start"
Patterson adds that these bugs were "well known to all parties", and that they existed for nearly two decades
He apologises again for Fujitsu's involvement in the Post Office scandal, after saying earlier this week the company had a "moral obligation" to compensate victims
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office privately prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses based on Fujitsu's faulty Horizon computer software
Some went to prison; others have died in the time it's taken to seek justice. So far, 93 wrongful convictions have been overturned
The government last week announced a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims", after an ITV drama thrust the issue back into the spotlight
That's where we're leaving today's live coverage.
A reminder that you can read our explainer on the story here.
And our coverage of the scandal as a whole can be found here.
Today's updates were brought to you by Sam Hancock at the inquiry itself - and Emily Atkinson, Ali Abbas Ahmadi, Olivia Otigbah, Jake Lapham, James Harness and James FitzGerald at BBC HQ.
Sam Hancock
Reporting from the inquiry
Image source, PA MediaAnd once outside Aldwych House, he was swiftly approached by the dozens of photographers and journalists awaiting his exit
Inquiry hearings tend to conclude with the person giving evidence leaving hastily through a side door.
But when Sir Wyn Williams called an end to today's proceedings, Paul Patterson instead spoke to some of the lawyers who had just asked him questions.
I reported earlier that lawyers representing the firm Howe+Co had shown some of us here a letter, asking Patterson to meet them and their clients today. During their questioning of him, they asked him the same.
Fujitsu's Europe chief said he was happy to talk to them, and sub-postmasters if that's something they wanted, but said today may not be the right time.
Patterson suggested they exchange business cards, which I presume is what I saw happen before he went through that very side door I just mentioned.
That's it for another day at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, which resumes at 10:00 GMT on Tuesday. Next week we'll step away from Fujitsu and hear evidence from more Post Office investigators - see you then.
An apology: That's how we started today. Paul Patterson, Fujitsu's Europe director, said the company was "sorry for our part in this appalling miscarriage of justice"
Bugs, errors and defects (BEDs): They were said to have been present in Horizon "from the very start", which was "well known to all parties" and in some cases took years to fix
'Shameful, appalling': Patterson later conceded that some references to BEDs were edited out of evidence the Post Office was relying on to prosecute sub-postmasters - calling it "shameful, appalling". He didn't say who edited the data, only referring to them as "others"
Altered data: In another tense exchange, he said Fujitsu was able to "alter" audit trail data, which helped with the prosecutions of sub-postmasters
'False by omission': Patterson acknowledged that some incomplete ARQ data was provided to the Post Office for its prosecutions, which he agreed was "false and misleading by omission"
'We let society down': Asked about delays to compensation for sub-postmasters, Patterson said: "We have clearly let society down, and the sub-postmasters down"
'It's got to be accountability': Former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton told the BBC he wanted "accountability" for the scandal that saw 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses prosecuted for theft and false accounting from 1999 to 2015
Watch: Fujitsu Europe chief says company 'let society down'
Sam Stein KC, representing many sub-postmasters and mistresses, kicked off questioning right after lunch, pressing Paul Patterson on Fujitsu's delay in offering compensation.
Patterson says Fujitsu will not delay the payment of compensation to victims of the Post Office scandal.
You can watch the exchange above.
Daniel Zeichner says bugs and faults in IT systems are inevitable
Toward the end of this afternoon's hearing, Fujitsu's Paul Patterson was asked about one of the broader implications of this scandal - trust in technology and innovation.
It's an issue that's drawn the attention of Labour MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner, who also happens to have worked in IT.
Zeichner says systems are only as good as the people behind them, but that does not excuse the "lying" that appeared to have "gone on" during the scandal.
"There are always going to be bugs and faults," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
Image source, Post Office inquiryFlora Page
Before the end of the session, Flora Page, representing Lee Castleton, quizzed Paul Patterson about evidence that Fujitsu asked for payments in return for the appearances of witnesses in court.
Patterson said he was "very surprised" that its litigation support service existed, adding that Fujitsu was an "IT company not a prosecution support service".
Sam Hancock
Reporting from the inquiry
I said a couple of times today that former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton was in the room. It was his lawyer, Flora Page, who asked the final questions of the session.
One of these seemed to focus on what Castleton told me earlier he wanted this inquiry to result in - accountability.
Page asked Fujitsu's Paul Patterson whether anyone internally had ever been held accountable for the issues with Horizon's data, which ultimately led to hundreds of sub-postmasters being prosecuted.
He said he was unaware of that having ever happened, to which there were a few sighs around the room.
Image source, Post Office inquiryThe day's proceedings come to a close, with chairman Sir Wyn Williams telling Paul Patterson that he'll probably be asked to return to give more evidence in the future.
Image source, Post Office inquiryClair Dobbin KC
Patterson is now taking questions from Clair Dobbin KC, representing Gareth Jenkins, a Fujitsu tech expert who helped build Post Office Horizon system.
She's asking some technical questions about the ARQ (Audit Record Queries) data system. Specifically, she's interested in a form the Post Office sent to Fujitsu to request data.
Patterson agrees there was a option on the submission which asks for confirmation that there were no reported system malfunctions.
Sam Hancock
Reporting from the inquiry
Now that we're hearing from lawyers who represent sub-postmasters, the tone of today's inquiry session has become less detail-focused and more emotional.
Sam Stein KC asks Fujitsu's Paul Patterson why the tech company had taken so long to put "its hands in its pockets and provide money, not just an apology" for its role in the Post Office scandal.
I note a few headshakes when Patterson says this is a decades-old miscarriage of justice, before saying Fujitsu wants to get to the truth about what happened.
It can be easy to forget, when hearing people discuss ARQ data and the like, about the people at the heart of all this - the hundreds of postal workers convicted of charges including theft and fraud on the basis of Fujitsu's faulty Horizon software.
Patterson says he has a "great deal of respect" for those very people, and he'd be happy to meet any who'd like to.
Sam Stein KC continues by noting the impact the Horizon scandal has had not only on the sub-postmasters, but also their loved ones.
He asks Patterson if Fujitsu will commit to financial redress for others that have been affected.
Patterson says he would "engage" in that conversation but can't guarantee the outcome.
He adds that the company is "completely committed" to restoring the places of affected people within society.
Image source, Post Office inquirySam Stein KC represents many sub-postmasters and postmistresses
"That's not quite true, is it?" presses Sam Stein KC, in response to Patterson saying the company is committed not to delay any compensation payments to victims.
Stein says that Fujitsu issued an apology earlier in the inquiry, but only agreed it would pay compensation recently. Why did it take so long for Fujitsu to agree to pay up, he asks.
Paul Patterson reiterates that he doesn't know why the company did not agree on compensation earlier, but considers it a "moral obligation" that they do so.
Patterson says he has not met sub-postmasters in the past as they thought it would not be "appropriate". But if that is a request, he says he would "absolutely do that".
We're back from lunch and leading the questioning of Paul Patterson is Sam Stein KC, representing many sub-postmasters and mistresses.
He begins by asking if the scandal has damaged trust in innovation, to which Patterson agrees.
Stein continues by probing Fujitsu's commitment to contribute to the government's compensation fund.
Will he make sure that this commitment doesn't delay the compensation of victims? "Yes, I can commit to that," Patterson replies.
"We will do nothing, nothing to delay that," he says.
Stein follows up by asking about Fujitsu's delay in agreeing to compensate.
"We have clearly let society down, and the sub-postmasters down," Patterson replies.
"I can't comment on the past... I don't know why things weren't done in 1999."
Image source, Post Office inquiryPaul Patterson is back in his seat. A reminder that you can stream the proceedings live by pressing the Play button at the top of this page - or follow the text coverage right here.
Sam Hancock
Reporting from the inquiry
That period before lunch mostly consisted of inquiry lawyer Jason Beer continuing to grill Fujitsu's Paul Patterson about the process by which hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted by the Post Office.
Beer brought up a range of documents and showed how, in various ways, the process was flawed.
At one point he pressed Patterson on the ARQ (Audit Record Queries) data that Fujitsu - via its Horizon software - was providing the Post Office with.
Using former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton - who I spoke to earlier and who's in the room today - as an example, Patterson admitted that the data used in the case against Castleton was "certainly not a gold standard or any standard". He added:
Quote MessageIt's a very simple Excel file which tells you not very much."
I didn't see any notable reaction from Castleton or his lawyers. But now that this lunch break is over we're going to hear from the representatives of victims. It'll be interesting to see if Castleton's ask about this exchange.
Image source, PA MediaFormer post office worker Tom Hedges (centre) celebrates after having his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2021
Let's give some context to those remarks by Kevin Hollinrake.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week said the government would bring in a new law to clear the names of all the sub-postmasters and mistresses in England and Wales who were wrongfully convicted because of the faulty Horizon computer system.
The government says there have been 983 UK-wide convictions - with 700 being Post Office prosecutions and 283 brought by other groups, including the Crown Prosecution Service - since the Horizon System was installed in 1999.
So far just 93 have had their convictions overturned.
The Post Office prosecutions include some in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where separate action will have to be taken to clear those affected.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf said he was also keen to work with UK ministers on the issue.
While the inquiry at London's Aldwych House had its morning session, we received more commentary from the government.
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake told BBC Radio York that compensating victims of the scandal was the "number one priority".
Hollinrake, who is the MP for Thirsk and Malton, described the scale of the injustice as "horrendous".
The government has pledged to bring in a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate" those falsely convicted during the scandal.
Fujitsu's European boss Paul Patterson has given evidence to Jason Beer KC at today's session of the Post Office inquiry. Here are the key points so far:
The inquiry is due to return after lunch at 14:00 GMT, when Patterson will face questions from the others in the room.
Image source, Post Office Horizon IT InquiryBefore lunch, inquiry counsel Jason Beer KC turned to the case of former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton - who our colleague Sam Hancock spoke to a short while earlier.
A document from 2007 referring to the Post Office's prosecution of Castleton was presented to Patterson.
In it, former Fujitsu senior engineer Anne Chambers said she was approached to speak to a solicitor about a call she had dealt with from Castleton in February 2004.
"Repeated assurances that this would all be settled before going to court proved to be unfounded," the document records Chambers as saying.
Chambers also expressed concern that there was "no technical review" of the Horizon evidence between the initial call and the case going to court.
She said she was also "concerned in the early stages that there might be something I'd missed".
Beer noted that similar comments were now being made by Patterson, 17 years later. "I would agree that this is a series of missed opportunities" Patterson replied.
... And there's a line or two still to catch you up on.