Post Office in-house lawyer appearing at Horizon scandal inquiry

According to the Department for Business and Trade there have been 983 UK-wide convictions, with 700 being Post Office prosecutions and 283 prosecutions brought by other groups, including the Crown Prosecution Service, since the Horizon System was installed in 1999.

So far just 95 have had their convictions overturned. A draft report uncovered by the BBC shows the Post Office spent £100m fighting the group in court despite knowing its defence was untrue.

The Post Office said it would be "inappropriate" to comment. The Criminal Cases Review Commission said the scandal was "the most widespread miscarriage of justice" it had seen.

The Post Office prosecutions include some in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where separate action will have to be taken to clear those affected. Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf said he was also keen to work with UK ministers on the issue.

The inquiry yesterday heard evidence from former Post Office investigator Jon Longman and ex-Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton. Here are some key moments from their evidence:

More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information from a computer system called Horizon.

The Post Office itself took many cases to court, prosecuting 700 people between 1999 and 2015. Another 283 cases were brought by other bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service. Many sub-postmasters went to prison for false accounting and theft, and several were financially ruined.

In 2017, a group of 555 sub-postmasters took legal action against the Post Office. In 2019, it agreed to pay them £58m in compensation, but much of the money went on legal fees. A draft report uncovered by the BBC showed the Post Office spent £100m fighting the group in court despite knowing its defence was untrue. The Post Office said it would be"inappropriate" to comment on the report.

Although campaigners won the right for their cases to be reconsidered, only 95 convictions had been overturned by mid-January 2024.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission said the scandal was "the most widespread miscarriage of justice" it had seen.

The Metropolitan Police is also investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences.

Emma Simpson

Business correspondent

Rodric Williams is giving evidence today. He was part of the Post Office in-house legal team, working on civil litigation and is still working at the Post Office today as head of legal for dispute resolution and brand.

Williams is going to be questioned over two days as he covers a long and crucial period when the alleged cover up was well under way.

He is likely to have knowledge of some of key areas of this phase of the inquiry, from the Second Sight investigation, led by independent investigators Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson, the mediation scheme for sub-postmasters that eventually collapsed and the epic group legal action led by Alan Bates against the Post Office.

What light will he shed on the Post Offices response to the scandal, and how heavily involved in it was he behind the scenes?

Aoife Walsh

Live editor

Good morning and welcome to our coverage. You’re joining us as the Post Office inquiry continues at Aldwych House in central London.

Today, we’ll be hearing evidence from lawyer Rodric Williams, the Post Office’s litigation lawyer and current head of legal for dispute resolution and brand. He’ll be appearing at the inquiry again on Friday.

Little is known about Williams, although his name has come up fleetingly in previous hearings.

We’re expecting to learn more about what went on behind the scenes between 1999 and 2015, when the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters because of data from the faulty Horizon IT system.

We’ll be bringing you the latest developments and analysis here on this page, and you can also watch the inquiry live from 09:45 by pressing the Play icon at the top of this page.