Post Office Horizon Scandal

100% of future donations (since 14th July) now going direct to my 3 charities since the fundraising for Crowd Justice is complete.

I will be completing the C2C (Sea to Sea / Coast to Coast) cycle route from Whitehaven to Sunderland with a total distance of 136 miles within 3 days starting Wednesday 8th July to raise funds for the Post Office Horizon Scandal victims, described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history destroying at least 1,000 lives.  Amounts will also be donated to charities from the total raised.  This will be a challenge for me as it is at least 5 years since I last sat on a bike, but for a cause like this it has to be done.



25% of the total pledges made will go to charities across the UK.  It will be shared between NHS charities, Mental Health Charities and Foodbank Charities. Any amounts that exceed our total fundraising goal 100% will also be donated to the above charities.  The amounts given to each charity will be shared once fundraising is complete.



I am looking to raise £50,000 (25% - £12,500 for charity) in total - again any amounts above the total needed 100% will go to the charities above) to get justice for Post Office Horizon Scandal victims whilst also supporting the charities that have helped these victims and millions of others during this pandemic.   Lives destroyed, false imprisonment, bankruptcy & suicide.  We have until July 15th to raise the funds needed so time is running out.

The Post Office Horizon scandal. The Post Office which is a government and public owned company has been proven in the High Court to be hiding information regarding the robustness of its IT equipment, treating its staff in 'capricious, arbitrary ways which would not be unfamiliar to a mid-Victorian factory Owner and then seeking to cover it up either with government help or through total incompetence. The government had a duty to get it resolved as mentioned in National Audit Office and Internal Cross Party government documents regarding ‘Arms length businesses’ controlled by government for which Post Office is one of them.

There are over 550 claimants who completed costly litigation, with around the same amount waiting in the wings (and probably a lot more). Lives were destroyed, businesses lost, homes repossessed, bankruptcies, false imprisonment, families destroyed, health issues and suicides, all down to a total cover up of the truth.  It has since been revealed there are over 1,500 further cases.

I was one of these claimants and due to lack of government intervention for which they were responsible for doing we had to find third party funding to bring this to a head. This means under UK law the cost of funding cannot be recovered from the Post Office and it is estimated claimants will not even recover a tiny fraction of losses incurred. Those who made the decisions including directors, management and the chairman remain running this business. The EX CEO Paula Vennells who decided to resign days before the first substantial judgement was released by the High Court has since been awarded a CBE, a position in the cabinet office of government and also chairs one of the largest NHS Groups (Imperial NHS). The support of MP's is growing in recent weeks across both sides of the house.

We need an inquiry to ensure ALL those responsible are held to account and all those who suffered are compensated for losses that they had no control over due to a failing IT system , draconian unfair contracts and horrific actions by Post Office Ltd.

The Post Office continued to fight the litigation even though days before they responded to the claimants pre-court action letter they held a board meeting where they approved a document that stated their Horizon IT system was 'not fit for purpose'. They then proceeded to spend over 50 million pounds of taxpayer cash telling the court Horizon was definitely robust, this alone proves they were willing to cover up the truth. Here is an extract of the judgement handed down on the 16th December 2019 :-

“The IT Strategy, which is referred to in this Update Decision Paper, and outlined that “the IT [Horizon] was not fit for purpose” and which was approved in July 2016 by the Post Office Board is, in my judgment, entirely consistent with my conclusions on the evidence. It is not, however, consistent with the Post Office’s response to the claimants’ pre-action letter, or the Defence in the group litigation, or the evidence adduced by the Post Office in the Horizon Issues trial. The Post Office’s solicitors’ response to the pre-action letter is dated 28 July 2016, very lengthy, and states that “the investigations to date have consistently pointed towards human error or dishonest conduct in branches as the most likely cause of shortfalls.” [H 954]

All this was a complete lie and they were willing to allow Postmasters to lose their livelihoods, their families, some their dignity and others their lives whilst at the same time blowing through millions in taxpayer cash to do so.

We are calling on this government to start a full Judicial Inquiry led by Fraser Justice.

Your pledge will help us take our complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for maladministration in the government departments (BEIS - Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and the relevant ministers so those who have suffered enormously over a 20 year period can get the answers, accountability and justice they rightly deserve and finally move on with their lives.  It will not bring back those who have sadly taken their lives but it will allow the family members left behind to have closure and justice.

I can tell you on behalf of all those affected who have waited 2 decades to clear their names will be eternally grateful for all contributions.  There are some who are sadly no longer with us, others that have suffered life long physical and mental illnesses who are no longer able to fight....it is important we do this on their behalf.