Postmasters who signed gagging orders in Post Office scandal urged to come forward

"Post Office bosses have told police that the agreements preventing victims from speaking about their experiences are no longer enforceable. Police say it means people who were wrongly accused due to faulty systems may now reveal what happened to them without fear of repercussions. At the same time, they have raised the prospect of top executives at the Post Office and Fujitsu whose Horizon IT system was at fault facing investigation."

"Officers say they do not know how many sub-postmasters signed confidentiality agreements but it's estimated 10,000 could have suffered in the scandal, when the software wrongly showed money was missing from branch accounts. It's thought a significant proportion of those may have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Up to 1,000 sub-postmasters were prosecuted and 236 were sent to prison before the extent of the scandal came to light."

"Commander Stephen Clayman, in charge of the investigation, Operation Olympos, told a briefing on Tuesday that some victims may have suffered trauma but it was important they spoke to police. We know there will be victims out there who have had to effectively suffer in silence, not allowed to speak, thinking they can't speak out, not getting any support. It's really important we do hear from them."

Police have said non-disclosure agreements that prevented sub-postmasters from speaking about the Horizon IT scandal are no longer enforceable. Detectives have called on sub-postmasters to come forward as wrongly accused people may now reveal their experiences without fear of repercussions. Investigators have raised the prospect of probing senior executives at the Post Office and Fujitsu. Officers estimate about 10,000 people could have suffered and that a significant proportion may have signed NDAs; up to 1,000 were prosecuted and 236 imprisoned. Commander Stephen Clayman urged traumatized victims to contact police under Operation Olympos, while acknowledging many may be reluctant to engage.

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