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Sir Alan Bates, a campaigner for sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal, has urged for the individuals responsible for the incident to be held accountable. Bates stated that “many of us know who the guilty ones are” as the inquiry into the scandal nears completion. More than 900 sub-postmasters were falsely prosecuted for shortfalls caused by flaws in the accounting system between 1999 and 2015. Many affected by the incident lost their livelihoods or were forced to fill the gaps in the accounts, and some took their own lives.
Representing victims on Monday, Edward Henry KC argued that it was not the system, but the “malignant culture” of the Post Office that had “destroyed the innocent.” The year-long inquiry has heard evidence from 298 witnesses and received 780 witness statements whilst dealing with over 2.2 million pages of disclosure. The report from the inquiry’s chair, Sir Wyn Williams, is due to be published next year, but Bates expressed concern about the possibility of the report being “put on a shelf.”
While many of those affected hope to put the incident behind them, compensation redress is still incomplete 25 years after the scandal began. Bates’s most recent redress offer, which offered a third of his initial claim, was rejected. Compounding this was the UK Government Investments’ (UKGI) lack of “curiosity” towards sub-postmasters’ concerns, according to Neil Sheldon KC, which may have given more weight to their claims. However, Sheldon defended the UKGI, arguing that there was no evidence of any employee intentionally victimising sub-postmasters or covering up the incident.
The Horizon IT scandal spanned numerous UK government coalitions and led to the prosecution of many innocent sub-postmasters. Bates hopes that the conclusions of the inquiry will lead to the proper accountability of the guilty parties
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