Fujitsu boss reveals firm was aware of '29 bugs' in Horizon

ITV News' UK Editor Paul Brand has the latest as Fujitsu's European boss admits the company was aware of system pugs in light of the Post Office scandal

Fujitsu’s European boss said the company was aware of 29 different bugs in its system over an almost twenty year period which saw more than 700 sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted.

Questioned at the inquiry into the Post Office scandal on Friday, Mr Patterson admitted the bugs had existed in the system for “nearly two decades” and said the Post Office had been made aware of the "vast majority" of them.

Mr Paterson was also questioned about the editing of witness statements by Fujitsu employees which were used in the prosecutions of sub-postmasters.

Paul Patterson told the inquiry there were proposals to include references to some of the bugs in the Horizon system in the witness statements, but that they were "edited out".

The Fujitsu director said some witness statements used in the prosecutions of sub-postmasters were “misleading” as they did not mention the company provided incomplete audit data to the Post Office.

He described this editing of evidence as "shameful... shocking, and appalling".

Mr Patterson probe that trust in technology “has been broken” as a result of the Horizon scandal, and offered to meet sub-postmasters whom he said he had a “great deal of respect for”.

Watch: Fujitsu boss gives evidence on Horizon to Post Office inquiry

Counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC asked him: “When did Fujitsu put two and two together and realise they added up to four – four being ‘we need to tell the Post Office about these bugs, errors and defects – not because there’s a problem with the system we’re selling to them, but because they’re prosecuting sub-postmasters on the basis of the evidence we’re providing to them’?”

Mr Patterson replied: “There’s lots of evidence of us informing the Post Office of that data that we’ve just discussed, bugs and errors, and how those bugs and errors did or did not impact the financial position as reported.

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At the start of his evidence, the Fujitsu director reiterated his apology to sub-postmasters, describing the scandal as an “appalling miscarriage of justice”, and admitting "we have clearly let society down".

He told the probe the technology giant was determined to “get to the truth wherever it lays” as he faced his second grilling of the week, following the Business and Trade Committee on Tuesday.

The statutory inquiry, which began in 2021, was established to ensure there was a “public summary of the failings which occurred with the Horizon IT system at the Post Office” and which subsequently led to the wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters.

The probe is chaired by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, who has previously looked at the human impact of the scandal, the Horizon system rollout and the operation of the system.

What is the Post Office Horizon scandal?

The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after the public outcry provoked by the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.

More than 10.3 million people have watched the final episode of the series making it one of the highest-rated TV dramas of the decade.

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.

To date, just 93 convictions have been overturned but the government recently announced legislation which will give blanket exonerations to all those wrongfully convicted.

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