Expert who constructed defective Horizon system desires immunity at inquiry
- Gareth Jenkins, 69, beforehand stated the Fujitsu system was ‘not corrupt’
The expertise skilled who constructed the defective Horizon IT system is known to need immunity earlier than showing at a public inquiry.
Gareth Jenkins, 69, beforehand gave proof saying the Fujitsu system was ‘not corrupt’, which helped to wrongfully convict a whole bunch of postmasters.
The Cambridge maths graduate, from Bracknell, in Berkshire, has twice beforehand been referred to as in to provide proof to the continuing public inquiry into the Post Office scandal however on each events this has been postponed.
His and one other Fujitsu skilled’s position within the fallout are at present being seemed into by the Metropolitan Police as Scotland Yard additionally positioned the Post Office below a felony investigation final week over ‘potential fraud offences’.
Mr Jenkins yesterday refused to reply any questions in regards to the scandal and informed The Telegraph when requested if he was sorry about what occurred: ‘I don’t wish to speak. I don’t have something to say to you.’
Tech skilled Gareth Jenkins, 69, from Berkshire, was instrumental in constructing the Horizon software program. He is believed to need immunity earlier than he seems at a public inquiry into the Post Office scandal
Evidence he gave in courtroom saying the Fujitsu system was ‘not corrupt’ helped to wrongfully convict a whole bunch of postmasters
In 2021 courtroom statements by Simon Clarke, a barrister employed by the Post Office to evaluate the prosecutions, claimed the IT skilled failed to inform at the least half a dozen trials in regards to the issues.
Mr Clarke stated on the time: ‘This failure is in plain breach of his obligation as an skilled witness… and has a profound impact upon the Post Office and its prosecutions.’
The doc – relationship again to 2013 – was filed with the Court of Appeal. It had compelled the Post Office to return and evaluate greater than 300 circumstances.
It comes after shamed ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells yesterday handed again her CBE she was awarded in 2019 after coming below intense strain.
She is now dealing with calls to return £3million in bonuses and pension as campaigners stated her resolution handy the honour again with fast impact was a token gesture and it was time she confronted ‘actual justice’.
Ms Vennells, 65, pocketed as a lot as £5million for being in cost in the course of the Horizon IT scandal wherein a whole bunch of postmasters have been wrongfully prosecuted, bankrupted and jailed.
And she is now dealing with calls to return £2.93million in performance-related perks and funds in lieu of pension.
The campaigners level out the bonuses have been linked to monetary figures inflated by postmasters having to pay again ‘lacking’ money from their very own financial savings.
Will Harrison, whose postmistress mom Sam died final 12 months with out correct redress for the losses inflicted on her, stated: ‘Giving again her CBE is trivial when individuals’s lives have been destroyed.
Paula Vennells, 65, pocketed as a lot as £5million for being in cost in the course of the Horizon IT scandal wherein a whole bunch of postmasters have been wrongfully prosecuted, bankrupted and jailed
Vennells (pictured in 2022) was final evening dealing with calls to return £3million in bonuses and pension
‘She completely should hand again her bonus cash, as a result of she ought to by no means have had it within the first place.
‘She was paid this fortune from a fraudulent pot of cash that got here not directly from the pockets of the sub postmasters – a lot of whom have been left destitute.’
Mrs Harrison from Nawton, North Yorkshire, was one of many 555 claimants who featured within the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
The defective Horizon system wrongly reported a £3,000 shortfall at her tiny one-counter Post Office in Nawton and like many others she was compelled to pay again the cash from her personal financial savings.
Campaigner and former sub-postmaster Chris Trousdale stated: ‘Paula Vennells needs to be stripped of her wealth, pension and popularity, similar to the sub-postmasters have been. The execs’ bonuses, their pensions and their pay have been based mostly on figures inflated by victims’ cash… bigwigs like Paula Vennells who at the moment are residing lives of luxurious.’
The Prime Minister’s spokesman stated Downing Street ‘would not wish to see anybody financially benefiting out of this scandal’. Rishi Sunak had supported requires a evaluate of the CBE and his spokesman stated handing it again was ‘the precise resolution’.
