The UK Post Office Scandal was a massive miscarriage of justice where faulty Fujitsu’s Horizon software used by the UK Post Office falsely reported financial shortfalls occurring in sub-post offices, leading the Post Office to wrongly prosecute over 700 sub-postmasters for theft and false accounting. Many faced prison, bankruptcy, and severe distress, with 59 deaths of victims reported, at least thirteen of them suicides. So far, I’m aware of no member of the government or the software provider that has been imprisoned. This scandal has been called the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice.
The Post Office itself took many cases to court, prosecuting 700 people between 1999 and 2015. Another 283 cases were brought by other bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In 2017, a group of 555 sub-postmasters – led by campaigner Alan Bates, who was subsequently knighted — took legal action in a landmark court case against the Post Office. In 2019, the Post Office agreed to pay the group £58m in compensation, but much of the money went on legal fees.
However, the action paved the way for dozens of sub-postmasters to have their convictions quashed in 2021. The episode came to wider public attention at the start of 2024 when it was depicted in an ITV drama, Mr. Bates vs The Post Office.
A public inquiry into this scandal was chaired by Sir Wyn Williams. The inquiry found profound, widespread human suffering, including over 10,000 affected, ruined lives, and 13 potential suicides had been caused by the Post Office and its faulty software. As of September 2025, over £1.23 billion ($1.67 billion) in compensation has been awarded to more than 9,100 victims. The final version of the inquiry report is expected to be published in 2026.
This whole mess is a salutary lesson on the excesses of government persecution of its citizens, and the lengths people will go to CYA. The level of lying and deception presented to the statutory public inquiry is appalling, but, like always, the government covers its posterior with a straight face and a sociopathic attitude.
