Post Office's investigator denies acting like 'mafia gangster' with sub-postmaster

Stephen Bradshaw, employed at the Post Office since 1978, has defended his interview techniques in light of the scandal. ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand reports

A Post Office investigator has denied at the Horizon inquiry he acted like a mafia gangster when interrogating sub-postmasters who were wrongly being accused of theft and fraud.

Stephen Bradshaw, who has been employed at the Post Office since 1978, has been defending his interview techniques, insisting his investigations had been conducted in a “professional” manner.

But counsel to the inquiry Julian Blake read him testimony from several aggrieved sub-postmasters, one of which accused him of bullying her.

The statutory inquiry, which was launched in 2021, was set up to investigate the failings at the Post Office which led to more than 750 sub-postmasters being wrongfully convicted based on evidence from the faulty Horizon IT system.

Investigator denies acting like mafia gangster

Sub-postmistress Jacqueline McDonald, claimed she was “bullied” by Mr Bradshaw during an investigation into her alleged £50,000 shortfall.

She pleaded guilty to theft after an audit found there had been a shortfall of over £94,000.

In her interview with Mr Bradshaw, which was read to the inquiry, Ms McDonald was accused by the investigator of telling him a “pack of lies”.

The exchange between Ms McDonald and Mr Bradshaw, read by counsel to the inquiry Julian Blake, included the investigator saying: “Would you like to tell me what happened to the money?”

Ms McDonald replied: “I don’t know where the money is I’ve told you.”

Mr Bradshaw continued: “You have told me a pack of lies.”

Ms McDonald said: “No I haven’t told you a pack of lies because I haven’t stolen a penny.”

Mr Blake said the witness’s words sounded “somewhat like language you might see in a 1970s television detective show”.

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Responding to Ms McDonald’s allegations of his aggressive behaviour in his witness statement, Mr Bradshaw said: “I refute the allegation that I am a liar.

“I also refute the claim that Jacqueline McDonald was bullied, from the moment we arrived, the auditor was already on site, conversations were initially (held) with Mr McDonald, the reason for our attendance was explained, Mr and Mrs McDonald were kept updated as the day progressed.”

The investigator added: “Ms Jacqueline McDonald is also incorrect in stating Post Office investigators behaved like Mafia gangsters looking to collect their bounty with the threats and lies.”

Mr Bradshaw was involved in the criminal investigation of nine sub-postmasters, including Lisa Brennan, a former counter clerk at a post office in Huyton, near Liverpool, who was falsely accused of stealing £3,000 in 2003.

He has also been accused by fellow Merseyside sub-postmistress Rita Threlfall of asking her for the colour of her eyes and what jewellery she wore before saying: “Good, so we’ve got a description of you for when they come”, during her interview under caution in August 2010.

He denies being aware of issues with Horizon and insists investigations done correctly

At the beginning of his evidence, Mr Blake first asked the witness: “Do you think that you have given enough thought over the past 20 years as to whether you may have been involved in what has been described as one of the largest miscarriages of justice in British history?”

Mr Bradshaw replied: “It would appear that through not being given any knowledge from top downwards that if any bugs, errors or defects were there it’s not been cascaded down from Fujitsu, the Post Office board down to our level as the investigations manager.

“I had no reason to suspect at the time that there was anything wrong with the Horizon system because we’d not been told.

“The investigations were done correctly.

“The investigations were done at the time, no problems were indicated by anybody that there was issues with the Horizon system.”

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Mr Bradshaw denies being a liar and claims he is not “technically minded”

Mr Bradshaw submitted a witness statement to the Horizon IT inquiry in which he said: “I refute the allegation that I am a liar.”

He told the inquiry he was not “technically minded” and was not equipped to know whether there were bugs or errors in the Horizon system.

Mr Bradshaw told the inquiry that a statement signed by him declaring the Post Office’s “absolute confidence” in the Horizon IT system was written by lawyers from the law firm Cartwright King.

The statement signed by the investigator in November 2012 said: “The Post Office continues to have absolute confidence in the robustness and integrity of its Horizon system.”

Asked if it was appropriate for him to declare “confidence” in the IT system in the 2012 statement, he said: “I was given that statement by Cartwright King and told to put that statement through.

“In hindsight…there probably should have been another line stating, ‘These are not my words’.”

What is the Post Office Horizon scandal?

In 1999 the Post Office introduced digital accounting software named Horizon - created by Japanese tech firm Fujitsu - which replaced the paper-based process of the past.

But it soon became clear to some sub-postmasters that the software was creating discrepancies in their accounts, making it look like cash was missing.

A sub-postmaster is someone not directly employed by the Post Office, who runs a separate retail business which hosts a Post Office facility on their site. The idea is that an in-house Post Office would drive customers to their business.

But many didn't - and the Post Office, which has the power to run private prosecutions, sought to have many sub-postmasters convicted of fraud and theft.

Between 1999 and 2015, 736 sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted but concerns with the faulty Horizon system were raised in court as early as 2003.

By 2012, potential problems with Horizon were so apparent the Post Office launched a review to satisfy politicians who had been complaining on behalf of their aggrieved constituents.

The Post Office however continued prosecuting sub-postmasters until 2015 but the miscarriage of justice was confirmed in 2019 when the High Court ruled that Horizon was to blame.

A number of compensation schemes were introduced by the government and £87 million was eventually paid out through the Horizon Shortfall Scheme to more than 2,500 sub-postmasters who lost money but weren't convicted.

The government has agreed that all wrongly convicted sub-postmasters are entitled to compensation of £600,000 but they can only be paid once their convictions have been quashed.

To date, just 93 convictions have been overturned.

Some 550 sub-postmasters successfully sued the Post Office, winning £58 million collectively but court costs had to be paid from that sum before it was shared amongst them, meaning they received significantly less than £600,000.

Rishi Sunak on Wednesday announced legislation which will give blanket exonerations to all those wrongfully convicted.

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