British Office comupter system scandal: BBC drama renews interest

[Akira Urushibata]

In October 2022 I posted here an article about a computer system named
"Horizon" whose errors led to hundreds of false criminal accusations.

British Post Office computer system scandal
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2022 07:24:41 +0900 (JST)
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2022-10/msg00002.html

> In 1999 the British Post Office installed a computer system named
> "Horizon".  From the early training phase problems were reported, but
> the upper management at both the Post Office and developer Fujitsu
> failed to take corrective measures.  As a result Horizon kept
> providing phony reports of lost funds in branch offices.  The Post
> Office responded aggressively to these reports by prosecuting managers
> of these offices.
>
> Subsequent investigations have brought to light disturbing details.
> During prosecutions the Post Office had claimed that only branch
> masters had access to the financial data in Horizon but this was
> untrue: a back door existed which gave engineers access to these
> figures.  They had withheld relevant code and data from courts.
> They had also lied to those accused, claiming that theirs were
> isolated cases when in reality there were over 700.
>
> This looks like a showcase of what harm can be done by refusing to
> disclose code and data and by keeping victims helpless by isolating
> them.
>
> ...

---

This January BBC aired the drama "Mr Bates vs The Post Office" based
on the experiences of Alan Bates, one of the victims, bringing greater
public attemtion to the fiasco.

UK Prime Minister Sunak has admitted in Parliament that this is "one of
the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history"; he has
also expressed his desire to clear the names of those wrongly accused
and offer compensation.


Here are some relevant links on the issue.  Of the several summaries
currently available I most recommend the one by Computer Weekly.

Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know
Computer Weekly
https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Post-Office-Horizon-scandal-explained-everything-you-need-to-know

British Post Office scandal - Wikipedia 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

Post Office scandal explained: What the Horizon saga is all about
- BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56718036


Post Office lied and threatened BBC over Horizon whistleblower
- BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67884743

`Innocent' postmaster convicted of wife's murder 'using Horizon
evidence' from Post Office
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/12/postmaster-jailed-wife-murder-horizon-post-office-evidence/


Mr Bates vs The Post Office - Watch Episode - ITVX 
https://www.itv.com/watch/mr-bates-vs-the-post-office/10a0469

Mr Bates vs The Post Office - Wikipedia 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Bates_vs_The_Post_Office