The Great Post Office Scandal
The Story of the Fight to Expose a Multimillion Pound IT Disaster Which Put Innocent People in Jail
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The Great Post Office Scandal
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Narrated by:
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Nick Wallis
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By:
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Nick Wallis
About this listen
On April 23, 2021, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 39 former Sub-Postmasters and ruled their prosecutions were an affront to the public conscience. For some, it was the end of a 20-year battle for justice—and tragically, three of them did not live long enough to see their reputations restored. It is a scandal that has been described as one of the most widespread and significant miscarriages of justice in UK legal history.
The 39 were just a few of the 736 people who, between 2000 and 2013, had been prosecuted by the Post Office for theft, false accounting, and fraud. The prosecutions were based largely on evidence drawn from Horizon, the Post Office’s deeply flawed software system use that threw up duplicate entries, lost transactions, and made erroneous calculations. If these errors resulted in apparent losses, Sub-Postmasters were forced to settle the discrepancies from their own pockets, sometimes for tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds. Those who could not pay were sacked and taken to court. Proud pillars of their communities were stripped of their jobs and livelihoods. Many were forced into bankruptcy and or borrowed from friends and family to give the Post Office thousands they did not owe. The really unlucky ones were sent to prison.
This is the story of how these innocent people fought back to clear their names against a background of institutional arrogance and obfuscation, a fight dragged out by the Post Office’s refusal to accept responsibility for its failings.
Nick Wallis, an acclaimed freelance journalist and broadcaster, has been following the story since 2010 when he met a taxi driver who told him his pregnant wife had been sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Since then, he has recorded interviews with dozens of victims, insiders and experts, uncovering hundreds of documents to build up an unparalleled understanding of the story. Using these sources, he has been instrumental in bringing the scandal into the public eye. He broadcast his first investigation for the BBC in 2011, in the same year that he took the story to Private Eye. He has subsequently made two Panoramas, a Radio 4 series, and raised thousands of pounds to crowdfund his own court reporting for the Post Office Trial website.
Nick has now written the first definitive account of the scandal. He takes us from the ill-fated deal that brought Horizon into existence, through years of half-truths and obstruction, to the tearful scenes at the Court of Appeal this year. He exposes the secrecy and mistrust at the heart of the story, and the impact that had on the victims. He also chronicles how this story’s hero, Alan Bates, started as a lone public voice of dissent but went on to beat the Post Office—against overwhelming odds—at two of the highest courts in the land and win some redress for the victims.
With cries for a full public inquiry into the affair still ringing in the government's ears, this story is not over. The Great Post Office Scandal is a gripping account which will serve as a landmark piece of reporting, revealing the full impact of this shameful episode, as it continues to unravel.
©2021 Bath Publishing Limited (P)2022 Bath PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Great Post Office Scandal
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- Happy Shopper
- 31-03-23
Unbelievable - essential listening
I’m now fully educated on what can only be described as the most heartless calculated government/corporate scandal that took place right on our local streets. Listen to this book and never blindly trust seemingly safe organisations ever again. Well written and well told. Thank you Nick Wallis for helping to bring justice to those affected and expose those who behaves like mafia bosses.
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-12-23
Shocking and heartbreaking
I can’t find the words I need to say, I am shocked and saddened beyond belief that this has happened and still not resolved. An utter disgrace, my heart goes out to all involved
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- E Hume
- 03-05-24
A brilliant piece of journalism
It’s horrendous and shocking. Thank you to Nick Wallis for writing it up so well and for reading it all out loud too.
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- Mark
- 19-01-24
A must-read (listen)!
This is a truly exceptional book for anyone values justice and who wants to understand a shocking miscarriage of justice.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-11-22
What a tale
As a lawyer, this is a remarkable story of what happens when the law and the government refuse to listen to common sense. A compelling listen.
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- Drivenandridden
- 03-02-24
Came for the story, stayed for the accents.
Great book about a very interesting story. Years of research have obviously gone into it and Nick Willis must be the best placed person to write it. Being an ex IT bod I now really want a second book about what actually went wrong from a technical aspect, I did very briefly work for Fujitsu/ICL on the Horizon project back in 98 and can honestly say it was the worst place I've ever worked. No one spoke to anyone else. I walked out after three weeks. Anyway, part two please Nick.
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- Tim Watson
- 23-01-24
The best coverage yet
Outstanding. Nick doesn’t miss a detail, beautiful piece or work that is well presented by the author himself. Worth every penny and every second of your attention.
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- Greig Stirling
- 06-06-24
Utterly devastating!
Great book about a terrible ordeal!
I’d say a must listen, but by god it’s was a hard listen at times!
Poor people!
Shame on those in power!
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- Amazon Customer
- 29-02-24
A must read
In strictly style, this is is a-ma-zing. So clearly written and read. But so sad that it’s all about real people’s lives and what they’ve gone through, and are still going through, is so terrible. Fascinating to read after watching the itv series and listening to the authors 2 podcast series. Helps put everything that’s in the current news about the horizon enquiry into context.
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- Martin
- 02-03-23
Outstanding. I hope it wins awards
Outstanding piece of investigative journalism my Nick Wallis who stuck with this story over many years. Superbly well written and presented. Horrific miscarriage of justice leaving the lives of many upstanding individuals ruined whilst the behaviour of many named individuals at The Post Office was appalling.
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