Tom Witherow @TomWitherow Twitter profile

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Tom Witherow

2 months

Exc: Reform candidates called black rioters "baboons" and defended celebrity sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Nigel Farage’s party withdrew support from two and is investigating several more. Meet the characters found by @thetimes & @hopenothate 🧵👇

Reform candidates made racist comments and defended Ghislaine Maxwell

Times analysis reveals the extreme views of some of Nigel Farage’s candidates

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Scoop: Public inquiry into the Post Office scandal has obtained covert recordings of senior staff including Paula Vennells. Approx 80 tapes could be “damning”, an inquiry source tells me. Full story here as CBE debate rages #MrBatesVsThePostOffice 👇🏼

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Cheshire postmaster Martin Griffiths threw himself in front of a bus in 2013 after he and his family were forced to pay back £100,000 of phantom losses. His widow Gina was pressured into signing a gagging clause keeping the full story secret for years.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 years

EXC: An NHS worker stepped in front of a high speed train after the UK's biggest bookmaker allowed him to lose £12,500 in days. Josh Hall, 28, lost half his salary with Paddypower before he died. His mum said she ‘will always be disgusted’ with the gambling company. [1/14]

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

Happening now: Paula Vennells is accused of "deliberate, considered, and calculated" cover-up by postmaster lawyer. Ed Henry KC says "you are responsible for your own downfall" and says she has given a "craven self-serving account" in her evidence. Fireworks start here 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

New: Post Office's top lawyer has refused to give evidence to the public inquiry and can not be compelled as she lives abroad. Inquiry counsel Jason Beer KC: “We're not going to hear from her, she lives abroad and won't cooperate”. Good reason why inquiries must be statutory.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

Post Office inquiry today: I'm down at Aldwych House for the evidence of Robert Daily, the investigator in the late Peter Holmes's case. He has admitted he "erroneously" put his wife's education achievements on his CV when he re-applied for his job in 2008.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 years

Every major online outlet has reported Woolworth's is returning to the high street. One call from me to owner Very's PR - he doesn't know a thing about it. Surely a story based on a Twitter account with 900 followers (and spelling mistakes) should be verified?

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Important point when writing about Horizon scandal: There are 4,000+ victims - not 'hundreds': ** 983 overturned convictions ** 2,750 HSS (lost money, weren't prosecuted) ** c. 500 more in #MrBatesVsThePostOffice group (exc OC) ** 100+ more came forward post-ITV. Total = 4,333

Tony

@tonydowney67

7 months

The media continues to use the word “ hundreds “ when referring to victims of the post office scandal . There are 1000s, that are ruined . Please share . 2800 in my scheme alone @carolvorders @TomWitherow @nickwallis This is way bigger

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 months

New at Post Office inquiry: Angela Van den Bogerd admits she got her bonus in 2019 after "lying" to the High Court in the Bates trial. "So despite a finding in the High Court that basically you lied, you got your bonus?" Edward Henry KC tells the inquiry. "Yes," she says.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Scoop 🚨: Covert recordings reveal senior Post Office staff knew there were problems with the Horizon software - two years before Paula Vennells denied it to MPs. First revelation from potentially "damning" tapes held by the public inquiry.

Recordings prove Post Office knew of IT problems years earlier

The assertion that remote access to the Horizon terminals was impossible was central to a position held by the Post Office for years

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

Boos in the public gallery as an email from Paula Vennells was read accusing Jo Hamilton of “admitting false accounting on TV”. Jo is watching from the front row. Vennells told inquiry: “Of course what I would like to say is I’m very, very sorry... I regret everything I wrote."

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

New 🚨: There is ‘sufficient evidence’ for police to investigate Post Office scandal bosses. * Lawyer: "More than enough evidence" to open criminal inquiry. * Police watching "every day of inquiry". * CPS appoints specialist KC to the case. Full story 👇

Post Office Horizon scandal: ‘sufficient evidence’ for police to investigate

Met police monitor public inquiry into wrongful convictions amid claims of a ‘toxic corporate culture of secrecy and misinformation’

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Exclusive 💥: Scotland Yard confirms Post Office is under criminal investigation over the wrongful prosecution of postmasters for the first time. Watershed moment in the Horizon scandal following #MrBatesvsPostOffice Top of the website & p1 tomorrow 👇🏼

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

EXC: A victim who lost his post office, house and marriage in the IT scandal is set to *hand back* £322,000 in compensation. 📬 Francis Duff said: 'I've been shafted twice.' My investigation reveals the gaping holes in the Post Office schemes. 🧵👇

Postmaster victim of IT scandal now forced to hand back compensation

Francis Duff, 80, was driven out of his business and forced to declare bankruptcy after he was persecuted for 'thieving' from his own till, when computer glitches were to blame.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 months

Exc: The widow of a postmaster who took his own life hours after his post office was raided has been denied compensation. Jay Sivasubramaniam is the 5th known Horizon suicide. MPs say his story shows the Post Office's "total lack of compassion". 🧵👇

Widow of postmaster who took own life is denied Post Office compensation

Previously unreported death is fifth to be linked to the Horizon IT scandal

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Explosive claim in the Sunday Times: Source claims Paula Vennells was recommended for CBE by Business Department for "bending her conscience and holding the line" to keep cost of scandal down. Full piece here: via @olivershah @HarryYorke1 @ShaunLintern

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Despite everything in #MrBatesVsThePostOffice : 🚩 Fujitsu still get multi-million contracts from Government. 🚩 More than 11,500 post offices use Horizon software today. 🚩 Government is yet to bring a civil case v Fujitsu to recoup £1bn cost of scandal.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Delighted to see the inspirational Jo Hamilton as lead interview in tomorrow’s @thetimes . Star of #MrBatesVsThePostOffice and one of the warmest, kindest and toughest ladies around. Headline: What the Post Office did to Horizon victims was criminal 👇🏼

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

EXC: Paula Vennells is under pressure to reveal the identity of the Fujitsu chief executive who told her that the Horizon computer system was as secure as “Fort Knox”. @marioledwith and I name two potential suspects 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

New: An act of parliament to quash the remaining 800 Post Office convictions "could be done tomorrow". Lord Falconer, former Lord Chancellor, tells @bbc5live : "There would be no resistance in parliament.” He's one of many calling for immediate action today 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Post Office scandal - who knew what and when about bugs in the Horizon accounting system? What we know so far, and the key evidence that backs it up 🧵👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Exc: My investigation has uncovered FOUR suspected suicides which relatives are blaming on the Post Office. I'd long thought, out of 3,000-odd victims, the death of Martin Griffiths could not be the only case of a postmaster taking their own life. Sadly I was proved right 🧵👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

5 months

My exclusive today: Post Office has spent twice as much on legal fees as on compensation. Cost of lawyers and the GLO settlement have hit £390m while compensation is only up to £169m. Full story 👇

Post Office spent twice as much on legal fees as on compensation

Fees paid to lawyers including to defend the Horizon system in court were double that paid in compensation, with almost 2,000 victims still waiting

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

8 months

A bombshell in case of Seema Misra, who was wrongly jailed while pregnant: Post Office lawyer Jarnail Singh was sent a report about a Horizon bug creating shortfalls at 40 branches in October 2010. But he did not disclose it to the defence at Misra’s trial later that month.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

New: Post Office inquiry groans as Paula Vennells email shows she followed PR advice not to review years of past prosecutions. She said she “would never have taken a decision based on the advice of one colleague” - but then email popped up: "I will take your steer. No issue.”

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

Break: The chief executive of Fujitsu has apologised to postmasters and said the firm has a moral obligation to contribute to the £1billion compensation bill. Follow live on @thetimes live blog on #PostOfficeScandal and in 🧵👇

Alan Bates appears before MPs in Post Office inquiry — as it happened

Campaigners, including Alan Bates, and politicians have suggested that Fujitsu should face financial consequences for its role in designing the Horizon system

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Breaking: Betfred must pay out £1.7m after a court ruled it wrongly withheld punter Andy Green's slot win. Andy, who fought for two years, said: 'These billionaires bully the small people. But there is justice, you can fight them.' Details of the case:

Man denied £1.7m payout by Betfred takes fight to High Court

Andy Green is suing bookmaker Betfred after it refused to pay up, citing a software error.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

Exc tonight 🚨: Revealed - the Fujitsu boss who said Horizon was ‘like Fort Knox’. We name him as Duncan Tait, the top UK CEO who walked away from Fujitsu with a £2.6m payoff. W/ @emmaftaggart @marioledwith 👇🏼

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

On top of these four... The Justice For Sub-Postmasters Alliance said there are at least 15 postmasters who have died from stress-related illnesses or old age before justice can be done, and compensation paid. These include Julian Wilson (jumper) & Peter Holmes (suit/tie) 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

🚨 BREAKING: Landmark @UniofOxford research has found 218,000 Britons spend more than £1,800-a-month on gambling. Huge project analysed spending of 6.5m Lloyds Bank customers, making it largest study of its kind ever conducted. Incredibly important work with lots of findings 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 years

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine fires his first shot at the Government's mini-budget. He says: 'I don’t think anyone in the debate on Brexit thought it was going to be about [lifting the cap on] bonuses for the bankers.' #cpc22

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Also Dawn O’Connell, a postmistress driven into depression and alcoholism by her ordeal at the hands of the Post Office, died a recluse age 57 after repeatedly trying to kill herself. Her story, as told by her lawyer to the Court of Appeal, is here 👉

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

Exc: Whistleblower claims Post Office staff could edit branch accounts remotely from early 2000s. “You could wipe their cash completely, add 500 stamps on, or take 500 off," a source claims. Post Office denied "remote access" until 2017. Full details 👇

Post Office could change accounts remotely, claims whistleblower

Source claims senior managers would have to be ‘pretty stupid’ not to know that Horizon systems could be interfered with

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

This story felt like one of the most important I have done in years of covering this story. It is desperately sad - a decade on we are still discovering the depths of pain caused by the Post Office and its bosses. The full piece is in today's paper 👉

Post Office IT scandal is blamed for FOUR suicides

Four people caught up in the Post Office IT scandal are believed to have taken their own lives after being hounded for cash that wasn't even missing, a Daily Mail investigation has found.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Special thanks to the families who shared their stories for the first time, and colleagues @blackdown @nickwallis @Ben_Wilkinson_ . The version in print 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Parmod - who was on @GMB below - is a truly lovely man, and his story is terribly sad. He never received the compensation he deserved as Post Office pressured him into settling due to the unusual circumstances of his case. We covered his story in April last year:

Good Morning Britain

@GMB

7 months

'It's destroyed me mentally. I've lost 21 years of my life.' Parmod Kalia was sentenced to 6 months in jail after being falsely accused of stealing £22,000 from the Post Office.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

New: The eight crucial Post Office scandal documents that should have rung alarm bells. 🚩 Postmasters claim a cover-up... ... And say these are the internal reports that prove Paula Vennells & co knew about the scandal and should have acted sooner. 👇

Eight crucial Post Office scandal documents that should have rung alarm bells

Several commissioned reports exposing serious issues with the Horizon software fell on deaf ears

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Met Police told @thetimes that officers were “investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions”, relating to “monies recovered from sub-postmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions”. Great scoop from @legalhackette

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

So he's been offered £330,000 funded by the Gov't Business Department... 💰 But £71,000 would go to the Treasury 💰 And £251,000 to the Official Receiver - a part of the Government, which administers bankruptcies for creditors. It's barmy, and I'm glad to say he's fighting it.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

New: Fujitsu manager called postmaster "nasty chap" as he buoyed colleague to "maintain absolute strength and integrity" and protect "the Fujitsu name" in court. Never-seen before email suggests Fujitsu sought to defend reputation in trials rather than support justice. 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

New: "The Post Office pushed my brother to suicide — they have blood on their hands" The sister of Martin Griffiths, the postmaster whose tragic suicide in 2013 was depicted in ITV's #MrBatesVsThePostOffice , speaks for the first time.

‘The Post Office pushed my brother to suicide — they have blood on their hands’

Martin Griffiths took his life after being hounded for £100,000 that he was wrongly accused of stealing. His sister, Jayne Caveen, says she cannot move on until ‘those responsible are behind bars’

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Revealed: The two Fujitsu IT experts at heart of a police investigation into Post Office Horizon scandal. Gareth Jenkins, the architect of Horizon, tried and failed to ensure his inquiry evidence couldn't be used in criminal proceedings. w/ @marioledwith

Revealed: Fujitsu IT experts under investigation in Horizon scandal

Gareth Jenkins and Anne Chambers were crucial in managing the faulty technology system which led to the convictions of hundreds of Post Office sub-postmasters

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

The wife of postmaster Martin Griffiths - whose tragic suicide was depicted in ep3 of #MrBatesvsPostOffice - was gagged preventing his death from being properly reported for many years. The full details of Gina’s appalling ordeal only came out in 2022 👇🏼

Postmaster's widow signed gag order as bosses accused of cover up

After Martin Griffiths killed himself, his widow was strong-armed into signing a settlement deal which stopped her speaking out about the scandal which resulted from a faulty computer system.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

TW suicide: I’m watching the harrowing episode 2 of #MrBatesVsThePostOffice in which Sam Kaur is hospitalised after self harming. Below are the four real stories of suicide I have found in the Horizon scandal - and there are sadly countless more attempts.

Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Fiona McGowan was 47 when she overdosed on alcohol and antidepressants in 2009, leaving sons aged 12 and 14. She had not been informed that the charges had been dropped. Her partner Phil Cowan said: 'I put the blame firmly on the doorstep of the Post Office. It's immoral.'

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

The paywall on @thetimes is down this weekend! Here are 15 key Post Office stories from the last six months - starting with: 1. The ‘smoking gun’ email that shows Paula Vennells knew of Horizon concerns in 2013 🧵👇

Paula Vennells: ‘Smoking gun’ email shows she knew of Horizon concerns in 2013

Despite reading key evidence about wrongful convictions years before, the Post Office continued to deny any errors in Horizon, its IT system until 2019

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

Blimey... Foxtons had 97,000 tenants chasing after just 2,000 available properties in April Also astonishing: A third of the UK's 5.5m private rental homes spend half their take-home pay on rent #HousingCrisis

How long can the UK rental crisis last?

‘It can’t keep going on as it is now’ — tenants despair at spiralling rents but there is little relief in sight

www.ft.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

A third victim, Louise Mann, the wife of a postmaster in Moretonhampstead, Devon, took her own life in 2012 over the shame of being labelled a thief. Her husband Charles has not received a penny of compensation. The dad-of-one, now 66, said: 'I lost my job. Then I lost my wife.'

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

Exc: Post Office executive ‘was told theft charge had no evidence’ a decade ago. Paula Vennells’s right-hand woman was told internal PO files suggested prosecution of Jo Hamilton (portrayed in an ITV drama) was a miscarriage of justice. 👇🏼

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Post Office scandal: Where are we at with compensation? More than a decade on there are still between 600 and 1,000 postmasters who have not received final compensation. That's out of more than 4,000 victims. Even to get to this point has been incredible fight 👇🧵

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Fiona McGowan was 47 when she overdosed on alcohol and antidepressants in 2009, leaving sons aged 12 and 14. She had not been informed that the charges had been dropped. Her partner Phil Cowan said: 'I put the blame firmly on the doorstep of the Post Office. It's immoral.'

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 months

Exc 🚨: Family of postmaster Martin Griffiths, who took his own life after being hounded for £100k, say they were "silenced" by "gun to the head" NDA deal. Widow Gina speaks after evidence of Angela Van den Bogerd, who devised £140k Post Office payout 👇

Post Office ‘held gun to my head to agree deal after husband’s suicide’

Gina Griffiths, whose husband Martin killed himself, said it had been ‘awful’ listening to evidence about his death at the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

Lawyers representing postmasters damned the 'scandalous' case, saying: 'It's give with one hand, take it back with another.' And there are many more of these mad cases 👇

Postmaster victim of IT scandal now forced to hand back compensation

Francis Duff, 80, was driven out of his business and forced to declare bankruptcy after he was persecuted for 'thieving' from his own till, when computer glitches were to blame.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

5 months

🚨EXCLUSIVE: More than 250 victims of Post Office scandal have died without justice. Shocking figures suggest postmasters are dying at a rate of about three per week - as compensation payments stutter along. Story leads the website this afternoon 🧵👇

Over 250 Post Office scandal victims have died without justice

Paula Vennells, the former chief executive, has been formally stripped of her CBE over the Horizon IT fiasco

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 months

Two eye-catching bits of evidence from the Post Office inquiry today. 1) Criminal lawyer Jarnail Singh said investigation report in @JoHamil73963257 's case should not be disclosed because “this would give the applicant every opportunity to ask why Hamilton was prosecuted”.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Devon postmaster Peter Huxham, 63, died in a suspected suicide after he was jailed for eight months over a £16,000 shortfall. It led to the break-up of his 22-year marriage and drove him to alcoholism and depression.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

5 months

Ex-Post Office chairman Henry Staunton lifts the curtain: ** Told to stall compensation to help Tory election chances. ** 40 Post Office investigators known as "untouchables" still employed (inc Stephen Bradshaw). Via @olivershah

Post Office boss: I was told to stall compensation to help Tories

Henry Staunton had only been in post since 2022. But when he was sacked he says Kemi Badenoch told him: ‘Someone’s got to take the rap’

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Post Office appeals - what's gone wrong so far? Postmaster Stanley Fell died a convicted criminal after the Court *upheld* his Horizon conviction for false accounting - he told me last year: "Horizon contributed to the mess I was in." Here's some of the detail on appeals 👇🧵

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

New: Post Office inquiry has now seen emails that show the head of criminal prosecutions blocked a full investigation into the faulty Horizon IT system. Robert Wilson told colleagues that was because “such an investigation will be disclosable“ in trials.

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 years

NEW: Tony Blair went ahead with the £1bn IT system at the heart of the Post Office Scandal despite being told it had scores of failings. A briefing to the PM said: 'Currently 146 [faults] have not been resolved'. Inquiry heard he was lobbied by the IT provider, Japan's Fujitsu.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

5 years

NEW: My investigation into Betway's 'grooming' tactics to lure its biggest losers into parting with their cash Read the matey messages his 'VIP manager' sent to addicted gambler Ben Jones as he stole £370,000 to fund his addiction 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

Heather Williams may receive no cash because she owes £2,000 in bankruptcy. Post Office owed a 'very significant sum', her lawyers said, but she can not afford to heat her home and she eats every other day. She's so frail a recent fall left her in hospital. ... She's only 53.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 years

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Chris Bruney, 25, killed himself hours after an online casino owned by Playtech plied him with £400 in bonuses. Tomorrow the Gambling Commission will conclude there were serious breaches of industry rules in his case. [1/5] Full story 👉

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

Exc: Paula Vennells clung on to ‘plum’ role as NHS chairman after Horizon scandal. I'm told the former Post Office CEO's view in 2020 was "to put on the tin hats and ride this out” despite advice from other Imperial directors 👇

Paula Vennells clung on to ‘plum’ NHS role after Horizon scandal

The former chief executive of the Post Office was allegedly ‘tin-eared’ to criticism

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 months

Shocked and saddened to see the revelations about Martin Griffiths's case at Post Office inquiry. His suicide, the NDA, treatment of his family and Post Office's move to protect their "brand reputation" - it is all utterly inhumane, and unforgivable.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 years

His inquest heard that, on May 17, 2020, the ‘kind and caring’ HR assistant ran into a mainline train travelling at 115mph, killing himself instantly. It’s a dreadful story that blows a hole in bookies’ claim that ‘high tech’ monitoring systems keep vulnerable punters safe.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

There are many more. This issue will return to the Post Office public inquiry for a third time in April. The scandal has rumbled on for more than two decades - and for many the injustice is not over. Please read and RT @KarlTurnerMP @KevanJonesMP 👇

Postmaster victim of IT scandal now forced to hand back compensation

Francis Duff, 80, was driven out of his business and forced to declare bankruptcy after he was persecuted for 'thieving' from his own till, when computer glitches were to blame.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 months

Sketch in @thetimes : "If only Fujitsu had snuck in to change Angela van den Bogerd’s evidence." She began her evidence in the now customary way, by reading out a pre-prepared apology... within 5s she was already denying she had anything to apologise for.

If only Fujitsu had snuck in to change Angela van den Bogerd’s evidence

The former Post Office executive had to make corrections to her own witness statement as she appeared before the Horizon scandal inquiry

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Post Office scandal: 3 key points from @kevinhollinrake 's address to MPs: 1) Ministers have drawn up plans to fast-track appeals of 750 postmasters. Lord Chancellor will be put these to senior judges for consideration, and they will be "announced to the House in due course".

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 years

Josh’s catastrophic losses triggered an alarm in Paddypower’s automated system, but no one from its ‘responsible gambling’ team phoned him. Instead - disgracefully - they took his bets and he was sent an automated email asking him to confirm he was happy with his losses. [3/14]

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

New: Proud to be part of @thetimes digital project to pay tribute to postmasters who died without seeing justice. It is incomplete - if we have missed names or you'd like your loved one remembered please DM me - we will continue to update the piece. 🧵👇

Pictured: the Post Office scandal victims who died without justice

Many suffered in silence for years and some wrongly died in shame. These are their stories

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

💥 NEW: Former Royal Mail CEO Moya Greene accused Paula Vennells: "I think you knew." In 2024 texts shown to inquiry she says: "I want to believe you. I asked you twice. I suggested you get an independent review reporting to you. "How could you not have known?" 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 years

And the final word on this story; A spokesperson for The Very Group said: 'We own the Woolworths trademark in the UK. The Twitter account UKWoolworths is not connected to The Very Group.'

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Labour says Post Office inquiry should consider role of Education Secretary Gillian Keegan's husband Michael in scandal. He was head of Horizon IT supplier Fujitsu 2014-15 as per @thetimes piece overnight. Story with @davidwilcock in the Mail:

Education secretary husband dragged into Post Office scandal

The 61-year-old went on to become a 'Crown representative' of the Cabinet Office, working primarily with the Ministry of Defence in 2018.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

New today: @marioledwith and I ask who could be responsible for the Post Office scandal? A run through the bosses and ministers under the microscope 📮👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

Dipped into the @Telegraph PO inquiry live blog - and what is happening?! Investigator Raymond Grant believes Scots postmaster William Quarm *was* guilty - even though his conviction was overturned. And the inquiry had to use s21 legal powers to compel him to give evidence 🤯

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Private Eye editor Ian Hislop going full tonto at former Tory chair over #PostOffceScandal

Peston

@itvpeston

7 months

“Two things tipped this, this drama and the fact there’s an election” Ian Hislop quotes a former sub-postmistress who says that the Government only started to take the Post Office scandal victims seriously because they were worried about losing their seats. #Peston

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

New: A senior Post Office lawyer celebrated putting Seema Misra in jail while she was pregnant in 2010. 🚩 Jamail Singh told execs they had "destroyed the attack on the Horizon system", according to an email shown to the inquiry. 🚩 Seema tells me: "They cannot be human."

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

He was offered £330,000. It didn't match what he'd lost - but Francis was pleased he'd have enough to live in some comfort. But reading on through the 30-page letter revealed he'd need to pay £71,533 in income tax, and £251,359 under bankruptcy proceedings. What?

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

New: My analysis of the three-point strategy Paula Vennells appears to be following: 1. Apologise; 2. Deflect blame; 3. Deny you saw key documents Her testimony wld suggest she was swept along by scurrilous execs: ‘The unluckiest boss in the UK’ 👇🏼 Print only w/ @marioledwith

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

8 years

Funny how new mayors always used to be front page news...

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

2) Postmasters were blaming Horizon for problems with their accounts from 2003 *at the latest*. Here is a local newspaper clip from Baljit Sethi where he "argues the system is faulty". Thank you to his family for passing on (inquiry has also seen) 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

5 months

New: Who believed hundreds of postmasters are guilty in January 2024? Now confirmed it's Post Office's criminal law firm Peters & Peters. "It is highly likely that majority of people who have not yet appealed were guilty as charged... point cannot be made strongly enough." 🧵

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

Phil says she had been charged with false accounting for covering up cash shortfalls in their Edinburgh post office. He has received just £21,000 in compensation for his family's tragedy (as part of the 2017-19 class action).

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 years

John Lewis announces it will look to expand into: :: Private rented affordable housing using spare space and old stores 🤯 :: A gardening business which could including nurseries and landscaping. :: A special channel to rent John Lewis products and sell on second hand items.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

Francis had run a post office successfully for 20 years when problems started. He’s a proud man from Merseyside – and rightly so, he won a certificate of valour for fighting off an armed robbery in 1996. But when cash started to go missing, the Post Office turned on him.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

Each time he paid up. And when his savings ran out he took out debt. Eventually it drove him to bankruptcy. His marriage broke down and his wife left, accusing him of 'not being man enough' to deal with the problems. But in 2019 a court ruled it wasn't him - it was the IT.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

1) Fujitsu experts knew there were problems at roll out in 1999/2000, according to a High Court judge. Mr Justice Fraser concluded after a two year case that contractors knew there were issues. This text is from his letter to the DPP, which I reported in November 2020 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 months

Paula Vennells repeatedly asked her senior team to find out if a suicide postmaster had "other mental health issues". Martin Griffiths's family had blamed the "Post Office bully boys" for his death after they chased him for close to £100,000.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

🚨 BREAKING: Whistleblower reveals widespread racism in Post Office IT helplines run by Fujitsu. * Asian postmasters were labelled 'another scamming Patel’ while staff ‘mocked Scottish and Welsh’ accents. * Shocking and brace revelation from Amandeep Singh to the inquiry now.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

Important: There have been no arrests or charges, and all deny wrongdoing - AND some of the most important inquiry hearings will come in 2024, so...

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

1 year

This - and more than 3,000 other cases - were a result of dozens of glitches in the Horizon computer system. Twenty years later there was a new scheme that promised to compensate postmasters driven into poverty two decades previously. Francis applied.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

New: Ed Davey tells @timesradio "I was deeply misled by Post Office execs" over Horizon scandal. Serious allegation if the postal affairs minister (2010-12) wasn't told whole story by bosses in a government-owned company. 👇 #MrBatesVsThePostOffice

Ed Davey: Post Office bosses misled me on Horizon scandal

Lib Dem leader regrets declining a meeting with the campaigning postmaster Alan Bates in 2010 when he was postal affairs minister

www.thetimes.com

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

3 years

His body was not found for many weeks, and was so decomposed the coroner could not return a cause of death. His widow Jacqui told the Mail: ‘It all went downhill after the case. It made us wonder if he had just reached the end of the road and perhaps taken his own life.’

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 months

New: Alan Bates will bring private prosecutions if @metpoliceuk “fail us” in a sign his fight could continue for years. “I think we will see prosecutions, whether it’s undertaken by the authorities, or whether we as a group have to bring some if authorities fail us once again."

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

More revelations: 🚩 He did not recall receiving formal training on CPIA 1996 Code of Practice disclosure pre-Sept 2010. 🚩 Noone in the PO Criminal Law Team was trained in Scots Law. A Scottish solicitor was only taken on to advise in 2013.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

9 months

New: Kevin Spacey gets standing ovation as he performs Shakespeare at Oxford lecture on cancel culture. He was said to be “deeply moved” to return to stage for first time since he was cleared of sexual assault. Comes after his film premiere was cancelled by West End cinema.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

6 months

New from me on the Post Office scandal: 🗞️ The Post Office investigations team that refused to play by the rules. A history of the PO Investigations Department that recruited from the 1980s Met and is accused of behaving like "mafia gangsters". 👇

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

7 months

5) In Aug 2010 a PO report found a bug could cause money to appear "missing" in 40 branches. Seema Misra was jailed while pregnant in Nov 2010 but was not disclosed this report. PO lawyers said they didn't think it relevant to her branch, but admitted to inquiry that was wrong.

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 months

Good story in @theipaper : A Post Office boss involved in Horizon conviction is now managing compensation claims. A real "you couldn't make it" up moment, and comes after claims there are 40 long-standing 'untouchable' staff the PO can't/won't get rid of.

Post Office boss involved in Horizon conviction now managing compensation claims

Campaigners and MPs say letting Caroline Richards manage claims from sub-postmasters to the Horizon Shortfall compensation scheme is 'outrageous'

inews.co.uk

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

2 years

Josh’s mum, Shelley Hall, in a statement read at the inquest on May 12, said: ‘My world ended that awful day. 'I asked the gambling company why they let him gamble thousands of pounds in 24 hours, days before he died. We will always be disgusted with the gambling company.’ [4/]

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Tom Witherow

@TomWitherow

4 months

Starting now: Alan Bates, who started his campaign against the Post Office in 2003, is giving evidence to the public inquiry. He starts by telling Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry, that he was positive about the Horizon system when it was installed. Live updates below 🧵👇

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