Ex-Post Office boss accused sub-postmasters of having 'hands in the till', inquiry told

Another former Post Office top boss has apologised to sub postmasters for the wrongful convictions, and the ruined lives and livelihoods as the inquiry continues, ITV News Correspondent Neil Connery reports

A former Post Office boss, who claimed, “subbies" had "their hands in the till” has said he was “unaware” the Post Office was the authority taking sub-postmasters to court.

Alan Cook, who was managing director from 2006-2010, told the Horizon IT inquiry on Friday that he "was unaware that the Post Office were the prosecuting authority".

Instead, he told the government inquiry, he assumed the "police and DPP" were the ones taking the sub-postmasters to court.

More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

'Subbies' had 'their hands in the till'

While these convictions were being handed out, Mr Cook emailed the Royal Mail Group’s PR officer to say he thought sub-postmasters “with their hand in the till choose to blame the technology” when cash was missing.

The email, sent in October 2009, said: "There is a steadily building nervousness about the accuracy of the Horizon system and the press are on it now as well... the system has been stable and reliable for many years now and there is absolutely no logical reason why these fears should now develop.

“My instincts tell me that, in a recession, subbies (sub-postmasters) with their hand in the till choose to blame the technology when they are found to be short of cash.”

Speaking on Friday, Mr Cook told the inquiry his email was “unacceptable” and one he will “regret for the rest of my life”.

'I was unaware that the Post Office were the prosecuting authority'

He earlier admitted he did not realise for a number of years that he was the head of a prosecuting authority.

“I knew there were court cases but didn’t realise that the Post Office in about two thirds of the cases had initiated the prosecution as opposed to the DPP or the police,” he said.

Mr Cook said: "Expressions were used like 'this is going to court'. I had assumed police and DPP were involved. I shouldn't have assumed.

"'It had gone to court' was the expression used and I had not encountered the notion of an organisation that could make that decision on it's own."

Counsel to the inquiry, Sam Stevens asked: “Your evidence is still that in no point in the years that you were the managing director, (nobody) in the security or investigations team raised the fact that they made decisions to prosecute?”

Mr Cook replied: “That is my position, definitely."

The former chief executive of the Royal Mail Group Adam Crozier, who also was quizzed at the inquiry, admitted he did not have a “developed understanding” of the Royal Mail carried out prosecutions.

He was asked: “Is the truth of the matter that in your position you did not have a developed understanding of the extent to which Royal Mail prosecuted or the way in which things were or were not carried into effect?”

Mr Crozier responded: “I’m not a lawyer. I would not claim it is my area of expertise.”

He also has expressed “huge regret” over the “tragic situation” for Post Office sub-postmasters and their families during his time at Royal Mail.

Mr Castleton vs The Post Office

Ahead of Mr Crozier's appearance at the inquiry, Mr Cook was questioned about the Post Office's case against sub-postmaster Lee Castleton.

Mr Cook said he was “unaware” of the organisation’s civil case against My Castleton who was found to have a £25,000 shortfall at his east Yorkshire branch.

Mr Castleton, whose story was highlighted in ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, declared bankruptcy after losing the case and was left with costs of £321,000.

Mr Stevens asked: “Did you not to think to ask why there was such a significant spend on one case?”

Mr Cook replied: “I just don’t recall… I can’t think why I wouldn’t and so either it was a mistake on my part or it wasn’t in the report, I don’t know.”

He told the inquiry he did not ask questions on the matter until he saw an article in Computer Weekly in May 2009, which was the first instance of the scandal being picked up by the media.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters are awaiting compensation, despite the government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

In recent months, The Post Office has come under fire since the broadcast of ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which put the Horizon scandal under the spotlight.

Mr Cook also went on to say he worked to boost the mood in the sub-postmaster community, as he believed they felt “unloved” when he came into the role.

He said: "One of the first things I did was establish a strong relationship with the chap who was then the federations top guy and the top team… Colin Baker.

"Then I started a programme of visits which in the end I did for the entire three years and 10 months that I was there… and I went randomly and visited them."

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