Second Post Office IT system 'likely' caused accounting issues, as 40 sub-postmasters 'falsely accused of stealing'
30 September 2024, 18:03 | Updated: 30 September 2024, 18:06
A second Post Office accounting system used by sub-postmasters - which predates the Horizon software - is likely to have also been faulty, an investigation has found.
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A report into the system, which was rolled out to branches nationwide from 1993, found it had "a reasonable likelihood" that the software "created shortfalls".
Some 40 sub-postmasters say they were falsely accused of stealing as a result of "glitches" in Capture.
The system was in place before Horizon, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015 because of erroneous shortfalls.
Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said he was "horrified" following the report into the Capture system and thanked former sub-postmasters for "coming forward to talk about the impact it had on their lives and livelihoods".
Read More: Post Office campaigner Alan Bates knighted by Princess Anne for exposing Horizon IT scandal
The independent report into Capture by Kroll - a risk advisory and financial solutions company - said there was "a reasonable likelihood that Capture could have created shortfalls for sub-postmasters".
Despite "various control functions being in place" at the Post Office, there was an "acknowledgement both in internal and external communications during the 1990s that Capture had bugs and errors that varied in severity," the report continued.
"The burden placed upon sub-postmasters to implement fixes, which varied in complexity, together with a reliance on communications from Post Office Limited to identify these bugs and fixes, meant there was a high capacity for errors to go unnoticed."
The investigation did not comment on whether any convictions that arose from sub-postmasters using Capture could be considered unsafe.
Kroll interviewed 21 sub-postmasters for the report, including 12 who had been suspended by the Post Office.
"Of these 12, eight were prosecuted, two resigned, and two were terminated from their employment," the report continued.
"A further seven sub-postmasters were never suspended, but advised Kroll that they ended up selling their branch, in part or whole, due to losses they sustained during Capture use."
Around 13.5 per cent of branches used Capture, with many of the sub-postmasters claiming that network managers and area managers pressured them to use the system.
Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors, who represents 70 of the sub-postmasters who used Capture, said: "It should never have needed such a long, hard battle to reach this stage, and there now must not be a long, hard battle ahead for exoneration and compensation."
A spokesperson for the Post Office told LBC: "We have, and will continue to, fully support the independent forensic accountancy investigation established by the Government into the Capture software.
"We have been very concerned from the outset about the reported problems relating to the use of the Capture software in the 1990s and are sincerely sorry for past failings that have caused suffering to postmasters.
"We remain determined that wrongs must be put right as far as that can be possible."
