The Post Office Scandal Explained

In what's been called the largest miscarriage of justice in UK history, the Horizon scandal reveals deep seated denial and deceit from the highest levels of society. Thousands were wrongly convicted of stealing money from their jobs when in fact, it was faulty software. In this episode we explore the gripping story.

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[winnerxl]

289 million in compensation to 2000+ victims? So what just under 150k each for jail and losing your job over something you didn't do

[ryanalollipop]

The worst part is that they repeatedly told sub-postmasters that no-one else was having issues with the system when they knew that thousands were reporting problems. If this happened today, they would very quickly find others online and find they had been lied to.

[madamechaos]

There was one bloke involved, he ended up with anxiety and depression as a result of the court case and the debt they wrongly sentenced him for. He went to a therapist, telling them he had been victimised and unfairly persecuted by the Post Office. One of the signs of really severe mental illness, is delusions of persecution by government agencies. So he ended up being sectioned under the mental health act. When he was literally telling the truth the whole time. Staggeringly awful.

[kod-s]

How do you know a system isn't perfect. Their founders say "our system is perfect." No respectable developer will ever call their creation "perfect."

[whitehorsept]

Those that choose to suppress the truth, should be the ones in jail for many many years

[NeilW]

A judge's role in a trial is to ensure a fair trial takes place. No one is talking about how these judges failed to do their one job. Every judge involved should also be held accountable.

[ThymeFromti]

This serves as a powerful reminder of why we should never blindly trust authority, especially when systems and accountability are in question.

[SteveGouldinSpain]

As a retired developer who worked in the public and private sector I'm surprised there aren't more stories like this that get made into dramas. For every one programmer sitting there writing code there are usually ten people above, doing vital administrative things, or so they tell you. In reality the politics and in-fighting, job-protection and power-grabbing that goes on is worse than GoT and none of it ever serves to further the project!

[meetv]

Fujitsu, Post office and government got away with just an automated apology email.

[Luzgar]

Testing your software is not optional.
When it comes to financial stuff, I want nothing short of the mathematical proof that it works correctly.

[bjohnson]

The saddest thing is that even with the resurgence of media attention, all focus is on those awaiting compensation and very little is mentioned of the fact people were driven to take their own lives. For no reason ofher than the incompetence and greed of others. Miscarriage of justice is a massive understatement.

[tsj-bnyf]

Thank you for making this video. This was quite small story here in the UK until recently and im glad to see someone with an international audience cover it❤

[Piemani]

One of the worst things in this sad tale was that the money recouped from falsely accused postmasters went into bonuses for the bosses.

[J.a.v.i]

It's astonishing that no one from Fujitsu went to jail. People actually lost their lives over this.

[Democratiser]

This is a horrific account of the worst failures of a bureaucracy. This should not be possible in the UK.

[Jack_Gibby]

I studied the Horizon software scandal in my first term of a computer science degree. The software problem is rudimentary.

[Xerclipse]

Caught this video fresh out of the oven. Man its crazy how the government doesnt want to admit to messing up prosecutions while keeping innocent people in prison. Plus the people responsible and incharge of that accounting software really should have fixed it better.

“Oh we got a problem, lets see how big the problem is instead of fixing it”

[scottcruickshan]

Thank you for calling this scandal what it is: A real human tragedy. The sad thing is that no matter how much compensation and apologies get dished out, the damage is done. Thousands of betrayed and tortured souls and lost time that will never be recovered. Thank goodness for those who never stopped fighting to spread the truth to the world.

[periurban]

This video rekindled an anger I have not felt for a few years now.
I was not involved with the Post Office debacle, but I did work in another government organization, and I saw fraud and shoddy practice steal millions from the public purse with no consequences for the perpetrators.
In those days, as a Civil Servant you were required by whistleblower laws to raise any concerns through a chain of command, and if nothing was done you were obliged to whistleblow, and there were protections in place for you. I did whistleblow, but saw the politicians and executives collude with one another to pretend nothing was amiss. I continued whistleblowing even when the law was changed to remove the legal protections I would have previously enjoyed.
Today the organization I left several years ago is still in disarray, with tens of millions never accounted for, and the system broken to the point of inoperability. No-one who was responsible was ever censured or held to account.
The system of making systems is riddled with corruption and fast practice.

[qienna]

Worst thing is, the woman in charge got a knighthood, even after it all came to light.