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The Great Post Office Scandal: The fight to expose a multimillion pound IT disaster which put innocent people in jail
This “factual thriller” from the journalist Nick Wallis details a scandal which has been described as one of the most widespread and significant miscarriages of justice in legal history. On 23rd April 2021, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 39 former Subpostmasters and ruled their prosecutions were an affront to the public conscience. They had been prosecuted by the Post Office using IT evidence from an unreliable computer system called Horizon.
When the Post Office became aware that Horizon didn’t work properly, it covered it up. Nick describes how a group of Subpostmasters worked out what was going on, formed a campaign group and fought the government-owned Post Office through the courts to eventual victory.
The Great Post Office Scandal has been described as “an extraordinary journalistic exposé of a huge miscarriage of justice” by Ian Hislop, Editor of Private Eye Magazine.
Dame Joan Bakewell says “Nick’s narrative has the power of a great thriller as he lays bare the lies and deceit that has ruined so many lives.”
When the Post Office became aware that Horizon didn’t work properly, it covered it up. Nick describes how a group of Subpostmasters worked out what was going on, formed a campaign group and fought the government-owned Post Office through the courts to eventual victory.
The Great Post Office Scandal has been described as “an extraordinary journalistic exposé of a huge miscarriage of justice” by Ian Hislop, Editor of Private Eye Magazine.
Dame Joan Bakewell says “Nick’s narrative has the power of a great thriller as he lays bare the lies and deceit that has ruined so many lives.”
544 pages, Hardcover
First published November 18, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
January 4, 2024
After watching episode one of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, I was angry. Very, very angry. So angry in fact, I felt the need to do a deep dive into this travesty/sorry fiasco/inhumane, unbelievable, multiple miscarriages of justice. My heart went out to all Subpostmasters/postmistresses that were caught up and destroyed financially, mentally, publicly and socially, and especially to those that couldn’t cope with the duress they were under and thought suicide was their only way out. My deep dive took me into the early hours of the morning and during my research I found this book. Like most people, I was vaguely aware that this was happening, but due to lack of reporting in the media had no idea just how grotesque and unjust this whole situation was.
Nick Wallis has more or less been with this from the start and has had the back of the subpostmasters the whole time. He was in court with them, privy to a lot of inside information and was friends with most of the victims by the end of this extremely long, unnecessarily long saga… Nick Wallis is first and foremost a journalist, who on the whiff of a good story started his own investigation. With no clue of how important this story would become and how unbelievably obscene the Post Office had behaved, Nick ran with it, and like a dog with a bone didn’t give up on it. Bringing it to the attention of some TV programmes helped along the way and made a few more people stand up and take note. Not everything was as it seemed.
I found this book riveting. So much more information than the TV series and fills in a lot of blanks and in between the lines. Eloquently written, unbiased and extremely informational (without being over the top) I read every single word. As the investigation ramps up and the full extent of the story unfolding rears its head, and the victims are interviewed, you feel the empathy that Nick Wallis has. You feel his commitment and self imposed obligation to fight for these once strangers.
Mr Bates worked tirelessly for himself (initially) and others when he realised he was not “the only one.” How this has dragged on for so long is disgusting. The tactics of the Post Office to drain the legal fund of the subpostmasters before any verdict (which would then negate any need to pay damages) was disgusting. How a publicly owned company could behave so appallingly is mind boggling and if it wasn’t for Mr Bates they would have got away with it. Eye opening for sure, I’m glad ITV has brought this story to the masses and I’m all the more informed thanks to Nick Wallis.
Nick Wallis has more or less been with this from the start and has had the back of the subpostmasters the whole time. He was in court with them, privy to a lot of inside information and was friends with most of the victims by the end of this extremely long, unnecessarily long saga… Nick Wallis is first and foremost a journalist, who on the whiff of a good story started his own investigation. With no clue of how important this story would become and how unbelievably obscene the Post Office had behaved, Nick ran with it, and like a dog with a bone didn’t give up on it. Bringing it to the attention of some TV programmes helped along the way and made a few more people stand up and take note. Not everything was as it seemed.
I found this book riveting. So much more information than the TV series and fills in a lot of blanks and in between the lines. Eloquently written, unbiased and extremely informational (without being over the top) I read every single word. As the investigation ramps up and the full extent of the story unfolding rears its head, and the victims are interviewed, you feel the empathy that Nick Wallis has. You feel his commitment and self imposed obligation to fight for these once strangers.
Mr Bates worked tirelessly for himself (initially) and others when he realised he was not “the only one.” How this has dragged on for so long is disgusting. The tactics of the Post Office to drain the legal fund of the subpostmasters before any verdict (which would then negate any need to pay damages) was disgusting. How a publicly owned company could behave so appallingly is mind boggling and if it wasn’t for Mr Bates they would have got away with it. Eye opening for sure, I’m glad ITV has brought this story to the masses and I’m all the more informed thanks to Nick Wallis.
December 5, 2021
This is the definitive account of one of modern history's worst miscarriages of justice. It is a huge scandal which deserves to be far more notorious. It is a tale of corporate dishonesty and bullying, which destroyed the lives of honest, hardworking subpostmasters. It is a tale of an ongoing fight for justice and accountability against overwhelming odds, and the terrible human cost of a company which put profit ahead of doing the right thing.
This book brilliantly examine and explains each aspect of this complicated saga, without ever forgetting the individual human beings who are the heart and soul of this tale. Read this book!
This book brilliantly examine and explains each aspect of this complicated saga, without ever forgetting the individual human beings who are the heart and soul of this tale. Read this book!
December 26, 2021
Like a lot of good investigative journalism, this is absolutely gripping. I actually found it hard to put it down. The case (well, cases) have been in the news very recently and they are absolutely shocking. Not only because of the grotesque injustices, the ruined lives, the imprisonment of innocent people, the arrogance and complacency and the appalling behaviour of those in power, but because of the disgraceful abuse of the judicial system, particularly the abuse of private prosecution powers. There are not many institutions which have the right to bring criminal prosecutions. The Financial Conduct Authority is one example, HMRC another. The Post Office had powers to prosecute and they should have used them in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, just as the Crown Prosecution Service would do. They did not. Fraser J’s judgment in the case is a masterpiece; if you are interested in the case, it (well, they) is available online. At the time of writing, this is not over; the issue of accountability is still under discussion. The book also discussed the fact that it is not clear what happened to the money. The IT issues caused large sums to be shown as missing when they were not. The Post Office demanded, and was given, large sums to ‘make good’ those ‘losses’. That involved taking people’s assets, their savings and the homes. If those sums were not due, and it seems that they were not, the book asks where the money actually went and whether it is possible to recover it. We shall see whether those were were paid staggering sums of money and given honours will be held to account; the author says that they are ‘not going to hold [their] breath’. All in all, an excellent read and an outstanding piece of investigative journalism. Like the Wall Street Journal’s investigation of Theranos, it is gripping stuff and shows how important it is that we have good investigative journalists and publications brave enough to expose abuses, which are no less human for having been committed by corporate entities. ‘Corporate’ sounds detached, impersonal. But this book never lets us forget that individuals in corporations make decisions, determine culture and ultimately approve the policies that make these horrifying events possible.
December 18, 2021
A great read.
Perhaps too many sad examples of good people who’s lives were ruined by a government organisation whose misplaced belief in its brand overruled the moral compass we would hope our supposed great institutions represent.
Unfortunately The Post Office is just one of many ‘Arms length bodies’ that require closer scrutiny.
I look forward to the two follow-up volumes; the first analysing how the Post Office got to that sorry state and the governance (people and structures) that allowed it, and the second casting the net more widely to the many similar government sponsored arms length bodies!
Perhaps too many sad examples of good people who’s lives were ruined by a government organisation whose misplaced belief in its brand overruled the moral compass we would hope our supposed great institutions represent.
Unfortunately The Post Office is just one of many ‘Arms length bodies’ that require closer scrutiny.
I look forward to the two follow-up volumes; the first analysing how the Post Office got to that sorry state and the governance (people and structures) that allowed it, and the second casting the net more widely to the many similar government sponsored arms length bodies!
February 21, 2022
Nick Wallis has written a well-researched and a socially and politically important book that exposes probably the biggest corporate scandal by a UK company. The Post Office Limited (POL) is fully a Government owned entity with origins that date back to 1660 when it was established by Charles II. The POL was long considered as "Britain's most trusted brand."
Around the turn of this century, the POL introduced Horizon, a front-end transaction processing terminal to 20,000 Post Offices serving 28 million annual customers. Horizon was at the time the largest non-military technology network in Europe - and it was not fit for purpose.
Wallis takes the reader through a harrowing narrative how the POL executives and the company's technology partner Fujitsu engaged in a systematic cover-up of the bugs in the system that had a propensity to generate false account balances at post offices that were managed by sub-postmasters. Sub-postmasters were people with variable technical skills who had often invested their life savings in a POL franchise. Under a contract that would have been more akin to a Victorian robber baron than a 21st century agency agreement, the sub-postmasters were held personally liable for any cash shortfalls produced by Horizon without an ability to access Horizon for account reconciliation. The POL insisted that Horizon was infallible and any sub-postmaster who did not make good of the shortfall on the spot was subjected to investigation that invariably resulted in a criminal prosecution and being pressurised without any moral consideration or due process by the POL's investigation department into confessing either theft or false accounting in a hope of a more lenient sentence. Between 2000 and 2015, 738 people were prosecuted by the POL. The book tells the stories of some of these powerless people whose lives were totally and utterly destroyed by the POL.
I was horrified by the POL’s corporate culture that that had created employees, managers and executives who blindly believed and insist that Horizon was 100% bug free and accurate. And once it had become clear that Horizon was not fit for purpose, I was aghast to read about the systematic effort by the POL executives and their legal teams to cover up Horizon’s system failures and the £1/2 billion of taxpayers’ money that was spent by the POL to wear down the efforts of a group “Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance” to seek redress.
The POL was eventually found guilty on all accounts for a huge miscarriage of justice, but we are yet to learn if any of the POL’s executives will be held accountable for their actions.
Around the turn of this century, the POL introduced Horizon, a front-end transaction processing terminal to 20,000 Post Offices serving 28 million annual customers. Horizon was at the time the largest non-military technology network in Europe - and it was not fit for purpose.
Wallis takes the reader through a harrowing narrative how the POL executives and the company's technology partner Fujitsu engaged in a systematic cover-up of the bugs in the system that had a propensity to generate false account balances at post offices that were managed by sub-postmasters. Sub-postmasters were people with variable technical skills who had often invested their life savings in a POL franchise. Under a contract that would have been more akin to a Victorian robber baron than a 21st century agency agreement, the sub-postmasters were held personally liable for any cash shortfalls produced by Horizon without an ability to access Horizon for account reconciliation. The POL insisted that Horizon was infallible and any sub-postmaster who did not make good of the shortfall on the spot was subjected to investigation that invariably resulted in a criminal prosecution and being pressurised without any moral consideration or due process by the POL's investigation department into confessing either theft or false accounting in a hope of a more lenient sentence. Between 2000 and 2015, 738 people were prosecuted by the POL. The book tells the stories of some of these powerless people whose lives were totally and utterly destroyed by the POL.
I was horrified by the POL’s corporate culture that that had created employees, managers and executives who blindly believed and insist that Horizon was 100% bug free and accurate. And once it had become clear that Horizon was not fit for purpose, I was aghast to read about the systematic effort by the POL executives and their legal teams to cover up Horizon’s system failures and the £1/2 billion of taxpayers’ money that was spent by the POL to wear down the efforts of a group “Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance” to seek redress.
The POL was eventually found guilty on all accounts for a huge miscarriage of justice, but we are yet to learn if any of the POL’s executives will be held accountable for their actions.
August 27, 2023
I often struggle with non-fiction books (much preferring to lose myself in fiction) but I couldn’t stop reading this, and won’t stop thinking about it for some time. I knew next to nothing of the Horizon scandal before reading Nick Wallis’s incredible piece of investigative journalism. The miscarriage of justice against former postmasters is unbelievable. Nick does a great job of highlighting the true personal cost of managerial greed and negligence by telling the stories of so many postmasters whose lives were destroyed by the Post Office. The complex legal cases and hundreds of different individuals involved (from apathetic ministers to Fujitsu employees) could make for a dense, boring read. However Nick manages to weave his true sense of injustice at the scandal through every chapter, leaving you desperately turning the page to find out what happened. Truly outstanding writing.
January 16, 2024
This was an extraordinary book. I was inspired to read it by the current news coverage of the post office scandal. It’s hard to believe that there is such manifest corruption and mendacity at the heart of a venerable British institution, and one that is public owned to boot. If this has been a Grisham novel, I’d have been impressed with the narrative arc, the character development and the sheer scale and scope of the story. That it is a real story with huge impact on so many upstanding citizens is both appalling and compelling. Congratulations to Nick Wallace for staying the course and exposing this scandal.
I can only hope that the senior post office employees and government are held accountable.
I can only hope that the senior post office employees and government are held accountable.
April 28, 2024
Nick Wallis' decades-long opus of dogged investigative journalism, plunging the reader deep into the bowels of British bureaucracy's characterscape. Absolutely revolting systemic and institutional harm against people truly helpless to resist. White-collar drudgery turns macabre, red-mawed, unthinkable. The UK's version of Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.
January 22, 2024
A proper page turner in the ‘true crime’ genre. I’m not sure anybody (with the exception of a couple of MPs and a handful of lawyers) come out of this very well…
February 14, 2024
An extremely detailed account of the post office scandal. The writing makes a complicated subject an easy read and highlights the horror and pain the post office caused to hard working folk. The legal processes can be quite hard to get your head around but the author lays it out well. What’s highlighted in this book is the perseverance of people who have not let this scandal lie.
November 26, 2023
An outstanding feat of investigative journalism.
The Post Office destroyed lives, lied about it and didn't care what happened to those it (wrongly) believed had commited fraud & theft following the installation of the Horizon computer system.
Nick Wallis covers the Sub-Postmasters stories with care, compassion but without losing the important details.
It took 15 years for some of these Sub-Postmasters to see justice done & their names cleared.
As of January 2023 many are still awaiting the full compensation they are due.
If you want to see how Britain works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) and how an institution can be rotten from the top down, but good from the bottom up, you have to read this book.
Highly recommended.
5*
The Post Office destroyed lives, lied about it and didn't care what happened to those it (wrongly) believed had commited fraud & theft following the installation of the Horizon computer system.
Nick Wallis covers the Sub-Postmasters stories with care, compassion but without losing the important details.
It took 15 years for some of these Sub-Postmasters to see justice done & their names cleared.
As of January 2023 many are still awaiting the full compensation they are due.
If you want to see how Britain works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) and how an institution can be rotten from the top down, but good from the bottom up, you have to read this book.
Highly recommended.
5*
December 21, 2021
A really well-researched, persuasive book which contextualises the Post Office’s treatment of its subpostmasters alongside other recent British miscarriages of justice.
Wallis brings out both the (huge) human impacts alongside the detail of how the scandal was allowed to run on and on. The only reason it’s not a five star book is that some of the technical underpinnings of the case (both legal and how the Post Office’s IT failures) are hard to follow at points, although that reflects the reality rather than the storytelling.
Wallis brings out both the (huge) human impacts alongside the detail of how the scandal was allowed to run on and on. The only reason it’s not a five star book is that some of the technical underpinnings of the case (both legal and how the Post Office’s IT failures) are hard to follow at points, although that reflects the reality rather than the storytelling.
January 3, 2022
A brilliantly well written account of The Post Office’s Horizon Scandal.It’s the best book I’ve read this year and certainly the most important. I hope all that colluded to blight the lives of these SPMs are hanging their heads in shame. I suspect they aren’t. Power corrupts.
January 11, 2023
Brilliant book that reads like a thriller with so much detail. Makes you cry at the complete injustice for these people, never mind the Post Office wasting half a billion of taxpayers money defending themselves!
February 17, 2024
A journalist’s book describing a legal scandal that’s increasingly made the UK headlines in the last few years and, as with anything involving lawyers, is still dragging on though hopefully in its final stages.
Sub-postmasters and postmistresses (SPM’s) are mostly subcontractors for UK postal services, usually running retail corner shops as well. In 2000-2001 they were confronted with a new networked computer system (‘Horizon’) supplied by the government owned national Post Office to manage the postal side of their business. Very quickly some SPMs seemed to be showing deficits they couldn’t explain for postal services. The Post Office authorities insisted the new software and the terminals were ‘robust’ and demanded deficits were made good almost immediately (with minimal investigations by aggressive Post Office security staff who usually assumed SPMs were prone to commit theft).
The story gets complicated! And has been going on for 20 years though only in the public attention for the last 3-4 years. Because of Post Office history it has (had) a special legal capability to bring its own private prosecutions, independent of police or public prosecutor involvement (mostly anyway). About 750 SPMs received some sort of conviction based on faulty evidence from the Horizon software; about 80 received prison sentences; maybe 2000-3000 SPMs tried to clear apparent deficits from their own funds to disguise them from the Post Office (a curious crime!). Happily the legal wheels have slowly ground and the Post Office management and the computer software supplier (Fujitsu) have been found responsible for possibly the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. The book finishes with the status of about one year ago, and will probably need a further edition once the wrangles over compensation and formal overturning of convictions, plus a Public Inquiry (proceeding slowly), conclude.
Certainly not the escapism I usually crave. A bit depressing in parts, especially when some tragic personal case studies of persecuted SPMs are given; convictions, job loss and business bankruptcy, often followed by mental problems, were typical. The definition of Kafka-esque for many SPMs. And it’s not a confidence builder in the UK legal system. The Post Office is shown to be riddled with mediocre middle management, incompetent investigators and a senior management determined to ‘protect the brand’ even when doubts about the Horizon software and the SPM prosecutions were confirmed to them. A study of the bizarre unquestioning loyalty some employees give to large companies!
But some brave determined people appear trying to bring bureaucracy and government to account - SPMs, lawyers and journalists. Even some critical interventions by politicians from parties I normally dislike!
It’s well written by a journalist heavily involved from its early stages. It’s one of my fastest recent reads because it’s structured a bit like a thriller where you have to know what happens next. Legal issues are explained in a very accessible manner. I was apprehensive about grinding through 550 pages on this scandal but it went quicker than I expected - the last 20% of the book contains addendums listing critical characters and organisations, and extensive index, which can be avoided if you wish.
For UK readers probably and it’ll make you angry and fed up but it’s also a compelling read - 5*.
Sub-postmasters and postmistresses (SPM’s) are mostly subcontractors for UK postal services, usually running retail corner shops as well. In 2000-2001 they were confronted with a new networked computer system (‘Horizon’) supplied by the government owned national Post Office to manage the postal side of their business. Very quickly some SPMs seemed to be showing deficits they couldn’t explain for postal services. The Post Office authorities insisted the new software and the terminals were ‘robust’ and demanded deficits were made good almost immediately (with minimal investigations by aggressive Post Office security staff who usually assumed SPMs were prone to commit theft).
The story gets complicated! And has been going on for 20 years though only in the public attention for the last 3-4 years. Because of Post Office history it has (had) a special legal capability to bring its own private prosecutions, independent of police or public prosecutor involvement (mostly anyway). About 750 SPMs received some sort of conviction based on faulty evidence from the Horizon software; about 80 received prison sentences; maybe 2000-3000 SPMs tried to clear apparent deficits from their own funds to disguise them from the Post Office (a curious crime!). Happily the legal wheels have slowly ground and the Post Office management and the computer software supplier (Fujitsu) have been found responsible for possibly the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. The book finishes with the status of about one year ago, and will probably need a further edition once the wrangles over compensation and formal overturning of convictions, plus a Public Inquiry (proceeding slowly), conclude.
Certainly not the escapism I usually crave. A bit depressing in parts, especially when some tragic personal case studies of persecuted SPMs are given; convictions, job loss and business bankruptcy, often followed by mental problems, were typical. The definition of Kafka-esque for many SPMs. And it’s not a confidence builder in the UK legal system. The Post Office is shown to be riddled with mediocre middle management, incompetent investigators and a senior management determined to ‘protect the brand’ even when doubts about the Horizon software and the SPM prosecutions were confirmed to them. A study of the bizarre unquestioning loyalty some employees give to large companies!
But some brave determined people appear trying to bring bureaucracy and government to account - SPMs, lawyers and journalists. Even some critical interventions by politicians from parties I normally dislike!
It’s well written by a journalist heavily involved from its early stages. It’s one of my fastest recent reads because it’s structured a bit like a thriller where you have to know what happens next. Legal issues are explained in a very accessible manner. I was apprehensive about grinding through 550 pages on this scandal but it went quicker than I expected - the last 20% of the book contains addendums listing critical characters and organisations, and extensive index, which can be avoided if you wish.
For UK readers probably and it’ll make you angry and fed up but it’s also a compelling read - 5*.
January 25, 2024
Although I'd read various newspaper articles about this scandal, I could never find out what had actually gone wrong in the Horizon system to cause these 'losses' that the sub postmasters were accused of. Also, as reports detailed that many of them had put their own money in to the system to 'plug' the losses, where did this money itself go?
I was curious because of working many years ago in systems development.
The book does give some answers.
However, the main thrust of the book is detailing the very human consequences of this scandal. It does also give a lot of detail about the ins and outs of the court cases. This all leaves you thinking that justice for ordinary people is hard to obtain.
I was curious because of working many years ago in systems development.
The book does give some answers.
However, the main thrust of the book is detailing the very human consequences of this scandal. It does also give a lot of detail about the ins and outs of the court cases. This all leaves you thinking that justice for ordinary people is hard to obtain.
February 9, 2023
A harrowing and very important book which highlights the stories of people who have lost so much over the years.
This is however a terribly structured book (particularly parts 1 and 3), with lots of skipping around the timeline, poorly explained legal process and unnecessary commentary on things that are not central to the case.
This is however a terribly structured book (particularly parts 1 and 3), with lots of skipping around the timeline, poorly explained legal process and unnecessary commentary on things that are not central to the case.
February 9, 2024
Not only an incredibly significant indictment of all those responsible for the scandal, but one of the best written pieces of investigative journalism. I really appreciate how the author does not gloss over details or the mundane: it makes it human and real.
February 13, 2024
The definitive book on the Post Office/Fujitsu Horizon scandal from the point to of view of the journalist who help to bring it light. Truly heartbreaking.
Must read for anyone in IT and especially finance IT and compliance.
Must read for anyone in IT and especially finance IT and compliance.
December 8, 2023
A brilliant account of a truly astonishing episode in British history. Every page left me shaking my head. It's hard to imagine how a government organisation in the UK could behave the way it did, and the perpetrators would get away unpunished. The book is superbly researched and written.
January 6, 2023
I was shocked that the timeline for this 'scandal' essentially started in 1994, but that from 1999 the roll-out of Horizon (The "largest non-military IT system in Europe"), began and subsequently years of misery and fraudulent activity.
Nick Wallis gives a great exposure of this staggering miscarriage of justice. This truly is a book I did not want to put down, despite it being a veritable tome, this is a book worth reading, a fight worth understanding and is why non-fiction is my favourite category. The truth will out!
Our once esteemed and beloved Post Office has slipped from its pedestal
"Now all we need is for the people who are responsible for this to be held accountable"
And still at the beginning of 2023, this, above all else, remains the biggest shock!
Nick Wallis gives a great exposure of this staggering miscarriage of justice. This truly is a book I did not want to put down, despite it being a veritable tome, this is a book worth reading, a fight worth understanding and is why non-fiction is my favourite category. The truth will out!
Our once esteemed and beloved Post Office has slipped from its pedestal
"Now all we need is for the people who are responsible for this to be held accountable"
And still at the beginning of 2023, this, above all else, remains the biggest shock!
February 7, 2024
This was very interesting and great journalism. But I think it would have been better structured thematically rather than chronologically - particularly with the long legal battles in the second half of the book.
January 12, 2022
It is impossible to read this book at a sitting, you have to put it down, wipe your brow, dab away the tears, perhaps pick up a comic or a graphic novel, before continuing.
Anyone who has ever had dealings with Post Office Limited, will have their confidence and trust in the organisation reduced to zero only just a few pages in.
Not a chapter goes by, but the urge to take the law into your own hands washes over you in a wave of justified, righteous indignation. How could people treat their co-workers like this? It seems inconceivable...but it happened.
If it were not for a helicopter crash, a determined MP and a few Sub Postmaster and Mistresses who refused to be bullied, this whole mess might never have been exposed. Unlike most scandals there is no titillation, hardly any 'closure' and people actually died before they were vindicated and trumped up, computer generated charges, were dropped and their names cleared.
I used to wonder why so many Post Offices were closing down, suddenly, with no warning, never to reopen . Now I know.....
It is still going on, little enough compensation has been paid to the victims because their lawyers had to be paid and their backers too. Please read this book, like many of my reviews, this rant will only make sense once you have a copy of the book to hand.
Some of the (considerable) cost of it goes to the victims of this appalling miscarriage of justice, may they receive much more before the year is out
Nick Wallis has done a wonderful job here, I just hope it comes out in paperback soon!
Anyone who has ever had dealings with Post Office Limited, will have their confidence and trust in the organisation reduced to zero only just a few pages in.
Not a chapter goes by, but the urge to take the law into your own hands washes over you in a wave of justified, righteous indignation. How could people treat their co-workers like this? It seems inconceivable...but it happened.
If it were not for a helicopter crash, a determined MP and a few Sub Postmaster and Mistresses who refused to be bullied, this whole mess might never have been exposed. Unlike most scandals there is no titillation, hardly any 'closure' and people actually died before they were vindicated and trumped up, computer generated charges, were dropped and their names cleared.
I used to wonder why so many Post Offices were closing down, suddenly, with no warning, never to reopen . Now I know.....
It is still going on, little enough compensation has been paid to the victims because their lawyers had to be paid and their backers too. Please read this book, like many of my reviews, this rant will only make sense once you have a copy of the book to hand.
Some of the (considerable) cost of it goes to the victims of this appalling miscarriage of justice, may they receive much more before the year is out
Nick Wallis has done a wonderful job here, I just hope it comes out in paperback soon!
February 16, 2022
A brilliantly researched and written book albeit a very depressing read that made me both sad and angry for the treatment the SPM’s received . I started following this case and Nick Wallis’ reporting of it while working at the Post Office headquarters in Finsbury Dials as a consultant. And his summing up of the culture and mindset resonates with some of my experience. I actually worked with some of the people mentioned in the book, including Fujitsu, helping organise “fixes” and changes to Horizon Online. I did always wonder how a critical operational IT system could seem to still generate such a high level of defects years after being rolled out (dozens each month). I was working there when POL lost the first case. And yes it did seem that at that point the penny still hadn’t dropped with many staff that POL was so dysfunctional that this sort of miscarriage of justice could go unchallenged by their senior managers for so long and there was a culture of denial and back covering. My experience was that there were some decent people working there (but with hindsight too few at a senior level) , but that overall the culture was one of the most dysfunctional I have ever come across.
March 5, 2022
An astonishing and gripping read for any business or public service leader, legal and compliance professional or journalist. The twists and turns - and the audacity of the Post Office - tell an alarming, eye-opening story of how rot can take hold in an organisation (and government) with devastating consequences.
January 14, 2024
A few choice words to describe the narrative in this book:
#Obfuscation, #DavidvsGoliath, #MiscarriageofJustice #Derelictionofduty #Abuseofpower
On reflection of the impact of the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs Post Office, I was keen to read the book before watching the dramatisation, as I was keen to avoid the ‘drama’ element of the show and get the raw true story.
The successful outcome of this scandal, is down to the tenacious persistence of a wronged Subpostmaster – Mr Alan Bates.
The Great Post Office Scandal is a riveting and shocking account of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history. The book tells the story of how hundreds of innocent subpostmasters were wrongly accused, convicted, and even imprisoned for financial crimes they did not commit, based on faulty evidence from a computer system called Horizon.
The author, Nick Wallis, is a journalist who has been investigating and exposing this scandal for over a decade, and his book is based on extensive research, interviews, and court documents. He reveals how the Post Office, a once-trusted national institution, became a ruthless and secretive organisation that ignored the truth, destroyed lives, and fought tooth and nail to avoid accountability. He also chronicles the heroic efforts of the subpostmasters and their supporters, who fought back against the Post Office's injustice and eventually won a historic legal victory in 2021.
The book is written in a clear and engaging style, with a narrative that unfolds like a thriller.
Wallis does not shy away from the human cost of the scandal, and he gives voice to the subpostmasters who suffered unimaginable hardship, trauma, and stigma. He also exposes the systemic failures, corruption, and cover-ups that enabled the scandal to continue for so long, and he raises important questions about the role of technology, the law, and the media in society.
The book is not only a gripping read, but also a powerful and timely reminder of the importance of justice, accountability, and public interest journalism.
At the time of writing this review, it appears that due to the impact of the ITV drama, this has now tipped the public interest for our Prime Minister to intervene, to expedite the settlement of compensation in early 2024, the year of the general election, happenstance?
Whatever the cause, I hope these wronged people are righted. No amount of money can remedy their hardships, or sadly in some cases, suicide.
An excellent piece of journalism.
#Obfuscation, #DavidvsGoliath, #MiscarriageofJustice #Derelictionofduty #Abuseofpower
On reflection of the impact of the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs Post Office, I was keen to read the book before watching the dramatisation, as I was keen to avoid the ‘drama’ element of the show and get the raw true story.
The successful outcome of this scandal, is down to the tenacious persistence of a wronged Subpostmaster – Mr Alan Bates.
The Great Post Office Scandal is a riveting and shocking account of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history. The book tells the story of how hundreds of innocent subpostmasters were wrongly accused, convicted, and even imprisoned for financial crimes they did not commit, based on faulty evidence from a computer system called Horizon.
The author, Nick Wallis, is a journalist who has been investigating and exposing this scandal for over a decade, and his book is based on extensive research, interviews, and court documents. He reveals how the Post Office, a once-trusted national institution, became a ruthless and secretive organisation that ignored the truth, destroyed lives, and fought tooth and nail to avoid accountability. He also chronicles the heroic efforts of the subpostmasters and their supporters, who fought back against the Post Office's injustice and eventually won a historic legal victory in 2021.
The book is written in a clear and engaging style, with a narrative that unfolds like a thriller.
Wallis does not shy away from the human cost of the scandal, and he gives voice to the subpostmasters who suffered unimaginable hardship, trauma, and stigma. He also exposes the systemic failures, corruption, and cover-ups that enabled the scandal to continue for so long, and he raises important questions about the role of technology, the law, and the media in society.
The book is not only a gripping read, but also a powerful and timely reminder of the importance of justice, accountability, and public interest journalism.
At the time of writing this review, it appears that due to the impact of the ITV drama, this has now tipped the public interest for our Prime Minister to intervene, to expedite the settlement of compensation in early 2024, the year of the general election, happenstance?
Whatever the cause, I hope these wronged people are righted. No amount of money can remedy their hardships, or sadly in some cases, suicide.
An excellent piece of journalism.
April 21, 2024
The history of what is still as I write this an ongoing scandal: perhaps the greatest miscarriage of justice in UK history, when the Post Office turned on and prosecuted its own operators for fraud on the basis of flawed evidence from its Horizon IT system.
The scandal came from a series of interlocking arrangements. The Post Office could mount prosecutions in its own right (something that its management now claims to have been unaware of), with its own investigators able to interview under caution but seemingly not required to record interviews or allow legal representation. The contracts under which postmasters operated were mis-represented to turn any discrepancies into the postmasters' fault, while simultaneously denying them the data they'd need to investigate themselves unless they were exceptionally careful and persistent – and the few who were were prosecuted and driven out anyway.
As a computer scientist I have to say that the most ridiculous part of the story is the presumption in law that a computer system works properly absent explicit to the contrary, that – when coupled with an asymmetry of who can access to software and its logs – makes it impossible to fight against computer-generated evidence. No system of this size ever works flawlessly, and a careful designer would add features on that assumption, such as paper-trails or detailed logs that can then be forensically analysed. Equally, no such system would ever be constructed without remote access to terminal endpoints to allow problems to be remotely fixed, and again a careful designer would ensure that such interventions were logged so as to be auditable. This is so self-evident that I find it hard to believe that Horizon wasn't designed that way, which makes the repeated denials even more suspicious.
But there's a social commentary here too. The justice system, juries, and the communities of the prosecuted postmasters were almost eager to believe their guilt. Part of that was the lack of proper media scrutiny to bring the extent of prosecutions into the public eye, and part due to obfuscation by the Post Office itself – but it surely there should be systemic oversight of such things, given the massive consequences. And surely communities should have been less ready to believe accusations made against their own members that went against the evidence of their own eyes.
The scandal came from a series of interlocking arrangements. The Post Office could mount prosecutions in its own right (something that its management now claims to have been unaware of), with its own investigators able to interview under caution but seemingly not required to record interviews or allow legal representation. The contracts under which postmasters operated were mis-represented to turn any discrepancies into the postmasters' fault, while simultaneously denying them the data they'd need to investigate themselves unless they were exceptionally careful and persistent – and the few who were were prosecuted and driven out anyway.
As a computer scientist I have to say that the most ridiculous part of the story is the presumption in law that a computer system works properly absent explicit to the contrary, that – when coupled with an asymmetry of who can access to software and its logs – makes it impossible to fight against computer-generated evidence. No system of this size ever works flawlessly, and a careful designer would add features on that assumption, such as paper-trails or detailed logs that can then be forensically analysed. Equally, no such system would ever be constructed without remote access to terminal endpoints to allow problems to be remotely fixed, and again a careful designer would ensure that such interventions were logged so as to be auditable. This is so self-evident that I find it hard to believe that Horizon wasn't designed that way, which makes the repeated denials even more suspicious.
But there's a social commentary here too. The justice system, juries, and the communities of the prosecuted postmasters were almost eager to believe their guilt. Part of that was the lack of proper media scrutiny to bring the extent of prosecutions into the public eye, and part due to obfuscation by the Post Office itself – but it surely there should be systemic oversight of such things, given the massive consequences. And surely communities should have been less ready to believe accusations made against their own members that went against the evidence of their own eyes.
July 31, 2023
4-stars on Goodreads apparently means that I "really liked it", but how can one like being shocked and disappointed by a scandal like this?
Naturally, one wants to review the book itself versus the topic/content but the account of what happened is truly so disgraceful that it might cause one to question whether one's own values are somehow a solitary beacon in the dark. The behaviour covered is, in some ways, almost expected in these cynical days (in the very worst cases); but it is the complicity, duplicity and outright culture of indifference to human suffering along with what can only be described as taking delight in the blaming of victims and their getting what they deserve.
The fact that the CEO during this time was an Anglican priest speaks for itself...
As for the book itself, the style was very readable with only a couple of exceptions. I had, in fact, been disheartened when I noted the pattern of chapters on individual cases interspersing Horizon events just because I realised it would therefore be an extremely long and poorly flowing book. However, the author/editor must have seen the danger and the pattern isn't continued with such rigidity throughout the rest of the book. The book might look a bit of a beast in person but it's actually an easy read, so far as style and structure is concerned.
Moreover, this book really is about abuse of [i]government power[/i] since that is what allowed the Post Office to do what it did; and so readers interested in that topic and current dangers to liberty would do well to read it.
Naturally, one wants to review the book itself versus the topic/content but the account of what happened is truly so disgraceful that it might cause one to question whether one's own values are somehow a solitary beacon in the dark. The behaviour covered is, in some ways, almost expected in these cynical days (in the very worst cases); but it is the complicity, duplicity and outright culture of indifference to human suffering along with what can only be described as taking delight in the blaming of victims and their getting what they deserve.
The fact that the CEO during this time was an Anglican priest speaks for itself...
As for the book itself, the style was very readable with only a couple of exceptions. I had, in fact, been disheartened when I noted the pattern of chapters on individual cases interspersing Horizon events just because I realised it would therefore be an extremely long and poorly flowing book. However, the author/editor must have seen the danger and the pattern isn't continued with such rigidity throughout the rest of the book. The book might look a bit of a beast in person but it's actually an easy read, so far as style and structure is concerned.
Moreover, this book really is about abuse of [i]government power[/i] since that is what allowed the Post Office to do what it did; and so readers interested in that topic and current dangers to liberty would do well to read it.
April 23, 2024
Wallis is a freelance journalist who took an early interest in the Post Office scandal and therefore covered and indeed promoted the story early on. (He had to pitch it to various BBC stations - quite interesting to read about the process.) He therefore has excellent command of the material and access to many of the characters involved on the subpostmasters side. (Paula Vennells kept hiding from him, so definitely a strike there). Maybe a bit less coverage of Fujitsu's role than I would have liked to see (most of it is crammed into one chapter), but that's understandable as it's a private company and the technicalities are harder to get into.
I haven't watched the ITV drama but the travesty of justice described in this book was sufficiently infuriating. Gotta say I find the blind belief in the perfection of Horizon quite odd as someone who works in tech, but that it translated into all this intimidation and misery is preposterous. The heartlessness of all those involved in the prosecutions - what was in it for them? did they ever have any doubts? - was terrible to imagine.
I know that a lot has happened since this book was published (I read the e-book of the paperback version which has an extra chapter but that was late 2022). Paula Vennells' CBE was revoked, and a new law has been tabled (not sure if passed?) to exonerate and compensate the victims by July 2024, two months from now. There is also an ongoing Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry happening as I write this review.
I haven't watched the ITV drama but the travesty of justice described in this book was sufficiently infuriating. Gotta say I find the blind belief in the perfection of Horizon quite odd as someone who works in tech, but that it translated into all this intimidation and misery is preposterous. The heartlessness of all those involved in the prosecutions - what was in it for them? did they ever have any doubts? - was terrible to imagine.
I know that a lot has happened since this book was published (I read the e-book of the paperback version which has an extra chapter but that was late 2022). Paula Vennells' CBE was revoked, and a new law has been tabled (not sure if passed?) to exonerate and compensate the victims by July 2024, two months from now. There is also an ongoing Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry happening as I write this review.
March 6, 2024
A Case Study of a Dysfunctional Culture
Nick Wallis writes a story that should be a work of science fiction. Like Jurassic Park, he takes a ridiculous premise but then plays the idea through in a totally believable way. Nobody could recreate the dinosaurs, but good fiction takes a bizarre proposition and makes the outcome plausible.
Likewise, no Chief Executive should allow her organisation to wrongfully prosecute and imprison innocent contractors and employees. Yet that is the crux of the Post Office scandal. The rest of the story is only a damning reflection of poor corporate culture and behaviour.
Nick Wallis’s tale is understandably light on what was happening within the Post Office (the Chief Executive preferred to hide from him than answer his questions). Still, reading between the lines, it is easy to imagine a web of management weaknesses.
It is hard to review Nick Wallis’s book without reviewing the dysfunctional culture that he was writing about. The response he evokes is visceral. He had me screaming at the car stereo as I listened to it.
The Great Post Office Scandal is a case study of how not to manage a corporation. It should become compulsory reading at every business school. It is far more valuable (and shocking) than the usual tomes on strategic management.
Nick Wallis has written a fascinating book.
Read a little more
Nick Wallis writes a story that should be a work of science fiction. Like Jurassic Park, he takes a ridiculous premise but then plays the idea through in a totally believable way. Nobody could recreate the dinosaurs, but good fiction takes a bizarre proposition and makes the outcome plausible.
Likewise, no Chief Executive should allow her organisation to wrongfully prosecute and imprison innocent contractors and employees. Yet that is the crux of the Post Office scandal. The rest of the story is only a damning reflection of poor corporate culture and behaviour.
Nick Wallis’s tale is understandably light on what was happening within the Post Office (the Chief Executive preferred to hide from him than answer his questions). Still, reading between the lines, it is easy to imagine a web of management weaknesses.
It is hard to review Nick Wallis’s book without reviewing the dysfunctional culture that he was writing about. The response he evokes is visceral. He had me screaming at the car stereo as I listened to it.
The Great Post Office Scandal is a case study of how not to manage a corporation. It should become compulsory reading at every business school. It is far more valuable (and shocking) than the usual tomes on strategic management.
Nick Wallis has written a fascinating book.
Read a little more
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