Former Fujitsu organise says Post Office ‘trapped’ him into gift half grounds – Journal Today Web

A past grownup Fujitsu organise claims he was “trapped” into gift dishonorable grounds by the Post Office during the continuation of subpostmasters accused of thieving and fraud.

He told the stylish Post Office scandal open inquiry chance that what happened in cases where subpostmasters were wrong convicted, supported on the grounds he gave as an proficient attestator for the Post Office, was because of “how the Post Office behaved”.

On the test period of his evidence, Gareth Jenkins, erst important organise at Fujitsu, said his persona in suite cases was “to verify the actuality and respond the questions he was asked”.

But during his asking over the threesome preceding life inquiry, KC Jason Beer asked whether this was the full truth, cod to his pore on narrowing questions most branches, ignoring the wider system.

In the stylish hearing, Flora Page, barrister representing victims of the scandal, including Seema Misra, past subpostmistress who was wrong blameable conception supported on grounds Jenkins gave, accused Jenkins of existence a “Fujitsu consort Negro doing what the consort desired you to do. Protect the ‘monster’ [Horizon] created for the Post Office by Fujitsu.”

Jenkins said he did not conceive Horizon to be a monster. Page place it to him that his persona in the Misra housing was to wage Horizon a “clean calculate of health”.

He said: “My persona was to verify the truth.” Page asked if Jenkins plain his grounds accordingly. He disagreed and said: “I attempted to respond the questions I was asked.”

Jenkins said he was compassionate for what happened to Misra, but additional that he change that was downbound to the artefact the Post Office behaved. “I understandably got unfree into doing things I should not hit done,” Jenkins told the inquiry.

Misra, who was meaningful at the time, was institute blameable and sentenced to 15 months in prison. Following Misra existence institute blameable by a jury, Jarnail Singh, past nous of malefactor accumulation at the Post Office, said: “Through the hornlike impact of everyone, direction solon Tatford, enquiry tar Jon Longman and finished the goodish skillfulness of Gareth Jenkins of Fujitsu, we were healthy to defeat to the malefactor accepted of grounds (beyond commonsensible doubt) every azygos suasion prefabricated by the defence.”

Misra, who sat oppositeness Jenkins in the investigating hearing, had her wrongful conviction turned in 2021 at the Court of Appeal after a daylong crusade by subpostmasters to establish that the Horizon system, and grounds from it utilised in court, was unreliable.

Earlier this week, Jenkins united that he had matured a “sideline” activity Post Office prosecutions. He was utilised as an proficient attestator in 15 prosecutions of subpostmasters from the primeval 2000s until he was dropped on the advice of an outside barrister for gift dishonorable evidence.

He said the Post Office’s prosecutions appeared to be disorganised and he change low push to wage grounds to hold it.

Jenkins fresh resigned as a member of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, after he was conversant the professed connexion could analyse his conception in the widest abortion of official in history.

During a past open investigating hearing, Ian Henderson, administrator at forensic playing concern Second Sight, which revealed problems with the Horizon system, described Jenkins as adjuvant during his investigation.

In an telecommunicate to his playing partner, Daffo Warmington, during Second Sight’s enquiry of Horizon from 2012 to 2015, Henderson said: “Gareth Jenkins has ever struck me as, you know, straightforward as a die.”

Beer KC asked Henderson: “What was it in your reciprocation with Mr Jenkins that struck you and allowed you to feature that he was straight?”

“He was not existence evasive. [Jenkins] was bright to help, he was responsive my questions, he provided pronto with follow-up touchable that I requested. I mean, there was no indecision in his willingness to respond our questions and to wage assistance,” replied Henderson.

The Post Office gossip was first unclothed by Computer Weekly in 2009, disclosing the stories of heptad subpostmasters – including Alan Bates – and the problems they suffered cod to business software. It’s digit of the large miscarriages of official in nation story (see beneath for timeline of Computer Weekly articles most the scandal, since 2009).

• Also read: What you requirement to undergo most the Horizon scandal •

• Also watch: ITV’s movie – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The actual story •