Summary

  • Chris Jackson, a lawyer acting for the Post Office, has apologised for delays in the disclosure of documents to the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal

  • Jackson has told the inquiry that the Post Office wants to help it reveal "the truth and facts" about the scandal, which saw hundreds of people wrongfully convicted

  • The Post Office has been accused of failing to produce evidence to both the inquiry and during several court cases

  • Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses based on the faulty Horizon IT system

  • Yesterday at the inquiry, former Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw denied he and colleagues behaved like "mafia gangsters"

  • The inquiry, designed to "ensure a public summary of the failings" and learn lessons, began in February 2021 - but a recent ITV drama has thrust the scandal back into the spotlight

  • On Wednesday, the government announced a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims"

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily McGarvey and Paul Gribben

  1. Analysis

    Post Office accused of failing to produce evidence on time

    Zoe Conway
    Reporting from the Post Office inquiry

    You’d be forgiven for thinking that today's inquiry hearing is going to be incredibly dry.

    It involves a lawyer for the inquiry interviewing a lawyer for the Post Office.

    But what they are going to be talking about really matters: the disclosure of documents. The Post Office has been accused of obstructing the work of the inquiry by repeatedly failing to produce evidence on time.

    Last July, on the eve of an important witness session, it announced that it had discovered more than 4,000 documents that it had failed to share with the inquiry.

    As a result, the hearing had to be postponed.

    The chair of the inquiry, Sir Wyn Williams became so concerned that he introduced the threat of criminal sanctions against the Post Office if they failed to produce necessary documents.

    The Post Office says it shares the aim of the inquiry in wanting to get to the truth. It says producing the necessary evidence is a huge exercise because it involves 70 million documents.

  2. What happened at the inquiry yesterday?

    Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw arrives at Aldwych House, central London, to give evidence to phase four of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry. Picture date: Thursday January 11, 2024.PA Media

    Former Post office investigator Stephen Bradshaw

    Thursday's hearing focused on evidence from Stephen Bradshaw, a former Post Office investigator who told the inquiry that he rejected accusations of being a bully who hounded a former sub-postmistress.

    • Bradshaw denied he and colleagues behaved like "mafia gangsters" towards wrongly accused sub-postmasters
    • He told the inquiry he had heard reports of problems with the Horizon IT system but was not "technically minded... I would expect that to come from the people above"
    • Asked if he should have looked further into claims there were issues with the Horizon IT system, Bradshaw insisted his role was to gather evidence and pass it on to solicitors
    • Lawyers representing the victims at the heart of the scandal put questions to Bradshaw. Edward Henry KC, representing former sub-postmistress Janet Skinner, told Bradshaw that he and his team were "drenched in information that Horizon wasn't working". Bradshaw accepted that the information "came through"

    Read more here.

  3. Post Office lawyer to face questions over scandal

    Emily McGarvey
    Live reporter

    Good morning and welcome as we resume our live coverage of the Post Office inquiry.

    The inquiry itself began in February 2021 but the Horizon scandal has been thrust back into the spotlight following an ITV drama based on stories of the wrongly accused sub-postmasters and postmistresses.

    From 10:00 GMT we’ll hear from Chris Jackson, partner at Burges Salmon, who has been called as a legal representative of the Post Office.

    Today’s hearing will look at the Post Office's disclosure of evidence to the inquiry - it comes after representatives of the Post Office revealed failings and potentially “deeper rooted problems” with its disclosure.

    We’ll be bringing you live updates from the hearing at Aldwych House in central London, and you can also watch it live from 10:00 GMT at the top of this page.