Nick Read acknowledged the severe oversight of the Post Office's leadership, who were unaware of the ongoing legal issues and the implications of the Horizon IT scandal. He admitted to a lack of detailed understanding regarding the allegations of historic bugs in the IT system, which severely affected operations and led to wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters. Despite being aware of the litigation during his interview in 2019, there were critical omissions in the job specification that failed to address the gravity of his role.
During the inquiry, Jason Beer KC emphasized that when Read was appointed, significant judgments about the Post Office's contractual relationships with its sub-postmasters had already been delivered. He pointed out that the lack of clarity in the job specification meant Read was unprepared for the challenges he would face. Beer’s remarks drew attention to the alarming discrepancies between the expectations of the role and the reality, underscoring the leadership's detachment from the ongoing crises.
The complexities of the Horizon IT scandal were underscored by the inquiry's findings, which indicated that the Post Office's defense of the system was fundamentally flawed. The court compared this to the outdated belief that the Earth is flat, illustrating the thorough disconnection the leadership had from both technological realities and the human impacts of their decisions, including the wrongful convictions of 736 individuals.
#horizon-it-scandal #post-office-inquiry #leadership-accountability #miscarriage-of-justice #sub-postmasters-wrongful-conviction
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