"They Were A Trusted Brand, You Didn't Stand A Chance!" Imprisoned Post Office Scandal Victim

Nick Wallis, one of the leading experts on the Post Office scandal, is joined by Janet Skinner, a victim of the scandal who was imprisoned for false accounting that she didn't commit, deputy political editor of the Sun Ryan Sabey and legal commentator Joshua Rosenberg to discuss the ordeal.
It comes after Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw is set to give evidence to the Post Office public inquiry as the scandal continues to unravel.
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses based on the faulty Horizon IT system and an inquiry began in February 2021.
A recent ITV drama has brought the scandal back into the spotlight and on Wednesday the government announced a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims."
#postoffice #scandal #accounting #imprisoned
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[@alecjefferson6993]

What a disgrace this lady went to prison. Well done Nick Mr bates etc 👍

[@showlett33]

The fact that the wholesale injustice was revealed in 2019 and everyone in parliament knew, all the barristers knew, all the judges knew and just allowed the whole shameful debacle to roll along at a snails pace while people were still suffering is a damning indictment on the whole sorry lot of them. The Gov, parliament and legal system over the last 3/4 years just shrugged their shoulders and said "Doesnt affect me, not my job, how much can i earn from this"

[@si_w8201]

Janet still looks extremely angry and I can't say I blame her.

[@si_w8201]

@@FreeToSurvive agreed.

[@tgrim50]

I live in America and was not aware of this treachery. Can you imagine being imprisoned for a false alley. The trauma to the individuals and their families are astounding.

[@Sk8Bettty]

Sadly, we have many such tragedies, both historical and current. ✌️🇺🇸❤️

[@Clint52279]

The British are experiencing the same tyranny we are here in the States. That lady and hundreds of others were caught in the treads of the modern beaurocractic machine of tyranny. It rolled over them, changed gears, and began looking for other victims. "When governments fear the people there will be liberty..."

[@Exanto777]

America is very dangerous for its lack of justice.

[@showlett33]

watch the 4 part show "Mr Bates v The Post Office" an ITV production, if you can get it on the internet

[@andydudley1775]

i bet they got more understanding and empathy from the convicts they was forced to do time with than the tory party and the justice system .before it was exposed.the tory fast tracked a new contract a month before this for fujistu and people was still being convicted and kept in the dark.

[@mrold4702]

It's time for those in the post office to be sent to jail.

[@harryhill8543]

The same thing has been happening in the NHS for years. When staff raise concerns they end up in the same position having their lives destroyed by the government body and their lawyers. The default position is lie and cover up.

[@graememoir3545]

Nick Wallis I salute you

[@merrsf]

Of all the articles and stories about this horror, I've yet to read any comment from those in the Post Office who actually carried out these indescribably vile attacks on these innocent people. Is ANYBODY to be held to account for these criminal attacks?

[@Mylostsock11]

Well done for keep trying to keep the story out there all this time...now its time these people names are publicly and completely cleared from any wrongdoing and those responsible, including the software provider, should be held to account! Each single person wrongly accused should be immediately compensated and receive public apologies.

[@denzel270]

Apparently then then head of crown prosecution, Kier Stammer, didn't know anything about this.

[@paulslater9061]

Makes me wonder what judges were basing evidence on it certainly wasn't facts and evidence it's disgraceful

[@djmattblack]

Its the same as organizations such as BBC, HMRC etc, they can prosecute without prejudice

[@patchpeek]

A computer never lies, didnt you know? The UK courts' default presumption that computer data is correct is something that has to change.

[@sTraYa249]

​@@patchpeekComputer says no!😮

[@Exanto777]

The trouble is that folks tend to believe the machine computer. With computers, it’s garbage in equals garbage out. The extra problem is that the software is also garbage. It highlights the fact that the judiciary are computer illiterate.

[@tonybeam]

Name and shame the juriy members and judges concerned.

[@Yoofaloof]

I don't think there was any jury in these cases - just the judges. If there were they would have had a different outcome I'm sure.

[@nigelbagguley7606]

Given what Ed Davey said about basing his decisions on what civil servants told him,I think it is vital that all those involved have their bank account details examined for links to Fujitsu and if links are found then criminal prosecutions must take place.

[@andydudley1775]

the tory want access to every one bank accounts and they let this happen for 13 years.

[@ukmachloop]

Keir Starmer must be questioned next

[@steviep7706]

The judges should have no problem being overridden by parliament regarding these poor innocent people but should have a problem if those who brought the lies and deceptive evidence before their court are not prosecuted in their place.

[@castlerock58]

The corrupt judges who were mixed up in this need to go to prison.

[@deedub577]

This just shows how corrupt the judiciary and the political establishment are and I’ll bet not one of them serves a term in prison

[@andydudley1775]

i totaly agree how can they not realise some thing was off .

[@michaeltoohey1385]

@@andydudley1775 The judges should be subject to a public grilling along with the investigators, and be brought to book.

[@jimstuart8478]

Anybody with an average intelligence ought to have realised something was amiss when so many postmaster were allegedly false accounting.Those heads at the Post Office and Ministers responsible should be investigated

[@michaelathanasiou2030]

The director of public prosecutions during the post office scandal was Starmer, ( being as we all know 700 post masters charged at the same time is a public mis-justice ) we NOW need an urgent investigation to find out if Starmer knew about these cover-ups

[@LIONHEARTED20]

THEY ALL KNEW , conservative , labour ; THEY ALL KNEW

[@colinfrancis7229]

I remember a few years ago, MSM used to call Starmer "forensic" as they pushed his credentials. Funnily enough, that tag has now been dropped.

[@robertratcliffe7926]

It was a private prosecution the CPS weren't involved in the prosecution

[@KennethSwaby-j9d]

I think there are more than 3500 postmaster who have now been affected one way or another.

[@robertratcliffe7926]

The only CPS involved was in Scotland as that's a different legal thing. Here in England it was a private prosecution so the CPS weren't involved in the process

[@KennethSwaby-j9d]

Disgusting. I feel so very sorry for Janet. 😢

[@PS_testing321...]

Oh Janet, God bless you. How awful.

[@tonyclack5901]

Then what about those of us who lost everything due to the unfounded lockdown measures. I lost my house, my business, my savings and now at 65 live in a van. I got nothing from these criminals.

[@Eric-qm5xw]

No good when your dead..the money.

[@andyb2706]

I can see where Janet is coming from about looking at each individual case before quashing and settling cases but if you listen to what the establishment is saying is that it could take another decade to get through these cases because up to now they have seemed to be dragging their feet and the Post Office contesting everything. Now Janet, and I hope she doesn't mind me saying this, seems a relative young person and apart from any serious accidents or illness that might come along will still be around in a decade. But a lot of these victims, and they are victims until the convictions are quashed, took up the role of a sub postmaster as a retirement scheme and its horrible to say may not have another decade left and those people need to be able to pass away knowing their names have been cleared, sixty of them have already passed away with their convictions still in place. Yes, their may be a small number of people who are guilty but the vast majority of them are law abiding citizens and it is worth the risk.

[@IMO1964]

2500 people were in the same position I was when Hillingdon council with DWP did this to me in 2006 4.5 years investigation bollox no dole no job accused of fraud led to no work for 17 years I was sentenced 6 months jail for spurious reasons but decided £0 actually defrauded they basically wanted a police state for everyone they wanted to ruin out come nearly got stabbed PTSD then conviction quashed 2007 Jun wrecked my life no compensation retraining they perverted justice not even an apology. I can't hold a job down still the stress and anxiety PTSD I still suffer from gets me binned as a bus driver constantly. I was an IT consultant trying to get back into work after a breakdown and being on the sick. Did what I was told. Bank wrote off the £35k of company debt . Passmore v R june 2007. Councils have their own prosecutors too. Jan Murphy if you know her she's a criminal.

[@Flapsupnolights]

I thought you were innocent until proven guilty. It’s for the prosecution to build a case and prove you’re guilty. You don’t have to prove you’re innocent. If they’d have investigated they would have found these people were not guilty

[@jessestone3915]

if there hadn't been a tv program they would be fighting for another 20 yrs gov needs removing too

[@Edward-uh7ub]

They should remove the word ‘Royal’ from the Royal Mail name.

[@diorocks5858]

75K is a joke

[@martinx8348]

So some small time criminals get away with a crime. when they group of bosses will likley get away their horrific crimes.

[@donbennett5001]

Thank goodness a solution to all these problems is on the horizon, a digital currency and digital ID run by tech firms given great contracts by officials with vested interests- can anybody see a problem with this.

[@dorothyblair6741]

We were talking about this very thing, my OH and I. One minute your money is there and the next it's not, potentially.

[@petermach8635]

Blackstone said; "It's better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer" ....... whatever happened to that dictum ? However, it's not that there aren't the guilty in this case who richly deserve condign punishment, I just hope those in charge have the courage to make their actions meet the debts that their mouths have made.

[@Sk8Bettty]

Good morning! ☕️ Lady Colin-Campbell said a few things about this the other day so I’ve been looking in on it. I haven’t seen the tv program. Thank you for having this lady on your show to talk about it. She’s right it’s not fair! Perhaps yes, free everyone, but then rule on the compensation issue on a case by case basis. Just a thought. I’m American. There’s no way a ‘mass freeing’ would happen here. A scandal like this would definitely trigger emergency hearings for the affected, but each person would have to file the proper motions for their judge to read. This story is wild & crazy to me haha.. I’m retired from criminal defense & I have been captivated by Harry’s cases & now this madness. Our systems are the same and they are opposites simultaneously. Much like we are separated by a common language. But I want to clarify something, then I’ll go away ;-) A plea deal between the prosecutor & the accused is almost always going to get the Judge’s signature. Both sides explain to the Judge why they agreed to the deal and what they expect going forward. The Judges have final say in all matters before them and complete control over everyone inside their courtrooms, both on and off the record; the lawyers, onlookers, bailiffs, janitors, anyone, everyone. They are basically sovereign in there and must sign off on every document. After the gavel falls, the ruling stands until appealed by a higher court. This mass freeing y’all got going on over there is cray cray ❤✌️🇺🇸 I will stay tuned for more

[@jimmyrottencauli]

Many defendents are let off on technicalities without a second thought ........... why should it be a reason to punish the inocent.

[@robertrose81]

This isn't a dilemma under our own legal system. Innocence until proven guilty is the fundamental basis of UK justice and the most quoted saying is literally "it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer".

[@leonhughes134]

My blood has turned to steam !!!

[@joemander7580]

On a wider issue - how many more innocent people go to jail

[@TheLincolnrailsplitt]

I don't care about the legal profession's qualms about the blanket exoneration parliamentary bill. It is also culpable in the hundreds of horrendous miscarriages of justice. It reportedly could take 10 years of retrials to clear the name's all of those wrongly convicted. Sadly, some of these victims may pass away before they are given a retrial. This would be horrendous.

[@dhessangha9970]

I love this man. Imagine if everyone in the world was like him, what a wonderful world that would be ❤

[@jameswilson431]

told to plead guilty.this scandal should should lead to prison for post office management civil servants,members of parliament barristers solicitors et al.the whole country is shamed by the actions of these self serving bastards.

[@happyjack7948]

looks like the tax payer will have to settle up not the post office or the software company

[@dorrisday1518]

Nothing new and nothing changes

[@alecjefferson6993]

PS find that Email from sir thingy

[@Greenpower-t9y]

should be instant then revisited to the ones that are guilty after full inspection of the real evidence

[@carolbamforth7475]

This wasn’t one political party, but several over the years. The head of Fugistu start with that

[@sehardorairaj3674]

We want Post Office to be nationalised. We want all utilities companies too.

[@ARNM55-l9v]

Older American here. Doesn't the UK have IT people / companies that could have developed the necessary program? Not a good look for the UK’s legal system. Perception from the other side of the pond [US]. Considering the portrayed attitude / culture of those in positions of authority, in the UK, I'm not surprised at how this played out. Based only on what I've seen in videos & read in comments, coming from people in the UK, it seems that those in authoritative positions, regardless of the insignificance of their office, they function as if they have been given absolute, infallible powers from some all-powerful deity or royal source. I am the law, you are guilty until proven innocent. That’s just my perception. Didn't anyone from the defense of the hundreds of accused attempt to independently investigate alternative narratives / causes in an effort to prove their clients claim of innocence or is that not done in the UK's system?

[@MetalSamantha]

I’m sorry, but if you introduce a new computer system and it instantly shows that a huge percentage of your staff are stealing, and you don’t ask yourself if it could be that the computer system is wrong, and you tell them all that they are the only ones, then that’s already massive-scale incompetence before you even get any further

[@raymonddimech3739]

too fantastic to be true not the royal mail surely

[@JamesDio-yu5yd]

Cool that took 15 years a

[@dorrisday1518]

Why are you Tax Payers forking out the compo?

[@joerudnik9290]

The BRITISH ‘stiff upper lip’ has not served them well. Your AMERICAN cousins have learned that nothing gets better unless you protest!!!

[@ginawillis3911]

Janet has lost my empathy, the fact that she’s so begrudging of maybe 1 or 2 who might be undeserving might benefit. Seems she would rather everyone be interrogated again. If 10 guilty men are set free to free 1 innocent man, it’s worth it.

[@kurtgodel5236]

This Post Office scandal is getting a bit boring. Can't TalkTV return to covering what is of real concern to the British people: the fight against wokeism and the Sussexes?

[@hitiming]

Something similar has happened, but it was in Australia. It was ur federal govt involved and it was called robo debt. This involved a system that identified people on benefit as oowing money to the govt. the system was faulty and was sending out all these letters advising people they owed thousands of dollars, I believe there were some people who committed suicide and of course all these poor people had these debts they had to repay which was very stressful. The system was found to be faulty and no one owed this money. This was introduced by the liberal govt at the time, once again a useless govt in action.