'Operational errors' could have caused cash loss at Post Office

Documents uncovered by the BBC suggest "operational errors" could have led to false accounting which saw a former north Wales postmaster jailed.

Noel Thomas, from Gaerwen, on Anglesey, is one of dozens of postmasters who were prosecuted after having problems with the Post Office's "Horizon" computer system.

Documents obtained by BBC Panorama reveal it now accepts the losses could have been due to "operational errors".

The Post Office denies any wrongdoing.

It said the Horizon system is robust and there was no evidence miscarriages of justice had taken place.

The Horizon system records all financial transactions in hundreds of Post Offices and sub-Post Offices around the UK.

Mr Thomas, who was jailed for nine months in 2006 after admitting false accounting totalling £48,000, said he experienced problems with the Horizon system.

He said he admitted false accounting because he never reported discrepancies he noticed.

However, Mr Thomas insists he did not take the money and blames the computer system.

He said: "Horizon kept saying money was missing so I phoned the helpline.

"I said I'm positive there was something was wrong with the computer system. They said no and that I was the only person who had a problem."

Mr Thomas signed off the missing accounts without declaring the missing money and when the Post Office came for an audit the business was £48,000 short.

Mr Thomas was charged with theft and false accounting, but the theft charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to false accounting.

"My barrister told me I had to plead guilty to false accounting," he said.

"The judge said nine months and I waited for a suspended sentence and he said take him down."

The Post Office said theft by Mr Thomas or somebody else could not be ruled out.

Twenty postmaster cases are now being reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission to see whether miscarriages of justice occurred.

The Post Office said it could not comment on individual cases due to confidentiality, but said a financial loss and false accounting together was often sufficient evidence for a theft charge.

In 2012, the Post Office appointed a firm of independent experts, called Second Sight, to look at postmasters' complaints about the Horizon system.

The Post Office said it "wholly rejects the extremely serious but unsubstantiated allegations" made by BBC Panorama.

It said its "exhaustive investigations" had provided overwhelming evidence that Horizon was not responsible for missing money.

"Trouble at the Post Office" on Panorama, can be seen on BBC iPlayer.