For background and more information, Private Eye Special Report: "JUSTICE LOST IN THE POST: How the Post Office wrecked the lives of its own workers" (PDF)
https://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/special_reports/justi...
UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
11–20 of 291 posts
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
One nitpick: Royal Mail and Post Office are two separate companies with independent boards. Royal Mail is the network and carrier, while the Post Office is the primary entry point into that network (they also offer access to a bunch of other services not related to the Royal Mail). Doesn't make your point any less valid, but wanted to call out the distinction.
Sounds like the kind of bullshit BT and OpenReach pull too. Claim to be two unrelated companies and yet one owns parts of the other and the same boards run both - all so they can pass customer problems between the two I definitely.
They have different boards.
https://www.openreach.com/about-us/our-leadership-and-govern...
https://www.bt.com/about/bt/our-company/group-governance/boa...
Openreach
Mike McTighe Chairman
Clive Selley CEO
Matt Davies Chief Finance Officer
Edward Astle Non-executive Board member
Liz Benison Non-executive Board member
Andrew Barron Non-executive Board member
Jon Furmston Secretary to the board
Simon Lowth BT Group nominee
BT
Jan du Plessis Chairman
Philip Jansen Chief Executive
Simon Lowth Group Chief Financial Officer
Adel Al-Saleh Non-independent, non-executive director
Sir Ian Cheshire Independent non-executive director
Iain Conn Senior independent director and independent non-executive director
Isabel Hudson Independent non-executive director
Mike Inglis Independent non-executive director
Matthew Key Independent non-executive director
Allison Kirkby Independent non-executive director
Leena Nair Independent non-executive director
Sara Weller Independent non-executive director
Rachel Canham Company Secretary & General Counsel, GovernanceRe: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#13There's a short but good podcast about the trial and how it affected people here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/m000jf7j
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#14Outrageous that so many people's lives were blown up by this. Relieved to hear the court ordered in their favour. I wonder if the post masters can now go after the Post Office for damages?
The phrase "Affront to justice" is key here. To be honest, I am completely shocked that this wasn't sorted out several years ago when it was all over the papers and it was completely obvious what had happened. But that key phrase allows the wholesale claiming of damages.
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#15A lesson to test your code and take action based on costumer feedback. I’m curious to learn what was Fujitsu’s position during those investigations.
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#16This is unreal. Shitty software sending people to prison without anyone in the process considering what exactly is the likelihood of hundreds of postmasters simultaneously becoming thieves overnight.
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#17This is unreal. Shitty software sending people to prison without anyone in the process considering what exactly is the likelihood of hundreds of postmasters simultaneously becoming thieves overnight.
Yeah, this is the part I'm having trouble understanding. A few people, sure. But all these postal workers committing fraud, with many insisting there must be something wrong with the software? How did this not get discovered before they were all convicted and sentenced?
And according to the article, the full number may actually be something like 900 people.
>Campaigners believe that as many as 900 operators, often known as subpostmasters, may have been prosecuted and convicted between 2000 and 2014.
How do you make this mistake almost 1000 times over 14 years before someone suspects the system data may not be quite right? Also, even if you do completely believe the data, how can you convict them all without additional supporting evidence, like new purchases that don't seem to fit their salary, suspicious bank transactions or balances, records of unusual system access or them actually manipulating data, etc.
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#18Such a terrible story. I'm surprised it hasn't been more prominent within the tech community. Many dozens of lives were ruined.
Unfortunately people died during this time too and did so with this hanging over their head. An absolute scandal, but there's no inquiry into the directors involved. Not yet, at least.
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#19They made a computer that can't add
Re: UK court clears post office staff convicted due to ‘corrupt data’
#20This is unreal. Shitty software sending people to prison without anyone in the process considering what exactly is the likelihood of hundreds of postmasters simultaneously becoming thieves overnight.
>>considering what exactly is the likelihood of hundreds of postmasters simultaneously becoming thieves overnight
I mean, I don't think anyone assumed they suddenly and inexplicably became thieves, just that the fancy new software finally caught people who have been scamming the post office for years. Obviously the software was completely wrong and it's criminal what happened to those people.