Late evidence in Post Office Capture investigation could not be reviewed

The investigation into the Post Office’s controversial pre-Horizon software system was hampered by the late provision of information, which could not be included in the final report.

According to a government commissioned report, access to datasets was provided too late for searches to be carried out and for results to be included in the investigation into the controversial Capture system.

The reference in the 87-page report stood out in the light of disclosure failures by the Post Office slowing the work of the statutory inquiry public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal over the past two years.

In May, the government appointed forensic specialist Kroll to ascertain whether the Capture software which was used in the 1990s has been wrongly prosecuting subpostmasters in the years before the Horizon system, which is currently at the centre of the UK’s biggest case of a miscarriage of justice.

To compile its report, Kroll used documents from the Post Office, former subpostmasters and campaigners. It also requested documents via law firm Peters & Peters, which has advised the Post Office since 2020 on matters regarding disclosure in subpostmasters’ appeals against their Horizon convictions.

According to the Kroll report, the datasets accessible by Peters & Peters include backup tapes and servers identified from the Post Office’s former finance headquarters in Chesterfield, and casework spreadsheets and summaries of documentation gathered by the law firm, which were focused on criminal prosecutions sought by Post Office Limited since the mid-1980s.

But access to searches of these datasets were not provided until it was too late, according to Kroll’s final report, which stated that the investigators were “made aware of various datasets accessible by Peters & Peters, however, access to the search results from these datasets was only provided on 21 August 2024, the day Kroll presented its draft report to the Department of Business and Trade (DBT)”. It added, that as a result of the late delivery, a review of the datasets was not undertaken.

Peters & Peters told Computer Weekly its role was to “facilitate Kroll’s access to Post Office’s data by liaising with KPMG, who hosted the databases, to run searches requested by Kroll”.

The company said that it was not aware of the date on which Kroll intended to submit its draft report, adding: “The material provided to Kroll was the product of search terms submitted by them two weeks earlier without a deadline. Peters & Peters requested the searches to be conducted by KPMG and the results were provided to Kroll as soon as they were available.” 

Computer Weekly reached out to KPMG, but the company did not respond to questions by the time of this article’s publication.

Post Office disclosure failures have hampered the search for truth in the Post Office scandal. During the ongoing statutory inquiry into the Post Office scandal, it has failed on many occasions to deliver requested documents, causing delays and disruption to proceedings.

In July 2023, Wyn Williams, the former judge in charge of the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry, threatened “criminal sanctions” against the Post Office if it continued with ongoing “significant failures” in disclosing evidence.

The Post Office and its lawyers have also been found to have failed to disclose information during the prosecution of subpostmasters if it pointed away from a guilty verdict.

A spokesperson at the department of business and trade (DBT) said: “We extended Kroll’s contract to review the additional evidence, and their assessment concluded it doesn’t change the findings of the report.” But Kroll did not mention this in the final report and did not respond to Computer Weekly’s requests for information.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with Kroll throughout to provide access to a huge volume of historical documents to the fullest extent possible. The exercise enabled extensive searches of databases by Kroll to ensure that the investigation was supported at pace with relevant records. We are fully supporting the work of Kroll and the government on Capture, with a determination that any past wrongs must be put right.”

The Capture system was a PC-based application developed by the Post Office and uploaded onto a personal computer by subpostmasters to carry out their accounts. The software – referred to by some users as a “glorified spreadsheet” – was a standalone system, unlike Horizon which is a complex, networked system connected to centralised services.

In January this year, then MP Kevan Jones, who now sits in the House of Lords, highlighted evidence of injustices caused by the Capture computer system used in Post Office branches prior to the introduction of Horizon. This followed former subpostmasters coming forward after watching the Post Office scandal dramatisation and documentary on ITV, with stories of the problems they had using the Capture system and the severe detriment they suffered.

The government this week published the Kroll report, which concluded that there was a “reasonable likelihood” software problems caused accounting shortfalls for which the users were blamed and, in some cases, prosecuted.

It also said, like in Horizon cases, the Post Office did not investigate whether software problems caused the unexplained errors.

The DBT spokesperson said: “We continue to work across government to thoroughly examine Kroll’s report and consider what action should be taken.”

Rupert Lloyds Thomas, a former Post Office executive who has campaigned for former  users of Capture, said that the lack of information is typical of the Post Office scandal.

“Many people were prosecuted and found guilty because the Post Office had failed to provide evidence that pointed away from the subpostmasters being prosecuted,” said Thomas. “Having read the Kroll report, there appears very little evidence that the Post Office contributed anything.”

The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.

• Also read: What you need to know about the Horizon scandal •

• Also watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The real story •

• Also read: Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means huge taxpayers’ bill •