At least 900 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were wrongly prosecuted for apparent financial shortfalls caused by faults in the accounting software, in what has been described as one of the UK’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
Victims of the Post Office scandal said the contract’s extension felt “like a kick in the teeth” as a large portion of postmasters and postmistresses still have not been compensated.
A spokesperson for the Post Office said that, while it is too early to speculate about when Horizon will be replaced, it is “committed to delivering a lower-risk, better-value new branch IT for postmasters”.
She served three months of that sentence before being released with an electronic tag, but was hospitalised in 2008 with a stress-related illness she says was caused by her ordeal.
“I had to learn to walk again, which took me two years,” she added. “I have a lot of mobility issues and I am left with a permanent disability.
Commenting on the extension of Fujitsu’s contract, Ms Skinner, who has not yet been fully compensated, said: “It’s an insult. It’s like they are rewarding them for their bad behaviour.
“It just infuriates me. Absolutely infuriates me. God knows what the other postmasters are feeling. It’s just like being kicked in the teeth.”
Ms Skinner spent three months in prison after nearly £60,000 appeared to be missing from her Post Office branch (Photo: supplied)Christopher Head became a subpostmaster in West Bolden, near Sunderland, in 2006 when he was 18 and is believed to be the youngest victim of the Horizon scandal.
Mr Head told The i Paper: “You are a central pillar in the community as a postmaster, so everybody knows you, even people that don’t use the business know you.
“It’s very hard. You don’t want to leave the house because you know people are talking about you. You don’t want to socialise.
Responding to Fujitsu’s new contract, he added: “We understand that in order to transition to a new system you have to maintain the old one until you get to the point that you are satisfied. In this circumstance, with the Post Office, you’d be more cautious given what’s happened with the previous system.”
Campaigners for the sub-postmasters caught in the Horizon scandal (Photo: Yui Mok/PA)“It’s just frustrating,” Mr Head added. “We are fighting tooth and nail to get what’s due to people to help them rebuild their lives, and yet the Post Office is giving tens of millions of pounds to Fujitsu.
At the end of November, about £499m had been paid to more than 3,300 claimants involved in the Post Office scandal across four schemes.
Five years on from winning an initial court battle, and a year after the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office sharpened the focus on the miscarriage of justice, no deadline has been set for when they will receive redress.
The Government has said it is making almost 90 per cent of initial GLO offers within 40 working days of receiving completed claims.
Responding to Sir Alan’s campaign, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We want redress as quickly as possible.
Alan Bates: Contract for Fujistu shows Government 'held to ransom'
Read More“But each postmaster eligible should receive substantial redress by the end of March.”
A Post Office spokesperson said: “As part of delivering our Transformation Plan and a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’ it has been necessary to agree a one-year contract extension with Fujitsu. We are committed to delivering a lower-risk, better-value new branch IT for postmasters.”
The Criminal Cases Review Commission said it is working with the Department for Business and Trade and the Post Office to identify any other cases related to Capture, a faulty IT system rolled out to thousands of branches in the 1990s.
The Government has been approached for comment.
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