The Post Office's Horizon computer system may have been deployed earlier than thought, potentially affecting which convictions get automatically quashed under legislation introduced to speed up justice in one of the biggest scandals in recent British history, MPs heard yesterday.

Amanda Pearce, casework operations director at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - an independent public body that reviews possible miscarriages of justice - told the Commons Business and Trade Committee that new Post Office information suggested Horizon was installed earlier than originally believed.

This could mean some convictions previously thought to predate the system may now qualify for automatic quashing under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024.

Pearce told MPs she was investigating possible miscarriages of justice under computer systems prior to Horizon's introduction, but the Post Office continued to provide new details.

"We've recently had the information on one of the pre-Horizon cases, which suggests that, in fact, Horizon was installed earlier than had originally been thought, and that case may be one that benefits from the Horizon legislation. It's complex to try and pin down the information in these cases," she told MPs.

Horizon is an EPOS and back-end finance system that was first implemented by ICL, a UK tech firm majority-owned by Fujitsu in the 1990s and fully acquired in 1998. It has undergone two subsequent upgrades.

From 1999 until 2015, around 736 subpostmasters were wrongfully prosecuted and convicted over Horizon errors, devastating lives in the process. A statutory inquiry into the mass miscarriage of justice launched in 2021 and is ongoing.

Its first report found that senior Post Office staff in the UK – and those working for suppliers Fujitsu and ICL – knew or should have known about the defects causing errors in the Horizon system. It also found that 13 suicides were recorded, most likely linked to the Post Office prosecutions, in which Fujitsu provided technical support.

The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 was introduced to fulfill the commitment made by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January 2024 to quash convictions that resulted from errors in the Horizon system. The legislation applies to "certain offences alleged to have been committed while the Horizon system was in use by the Post Office."

Pearce said that, due to the age of the cases, there was a significant lack of reliable information from the Post Office. The Department for Business and Trade had provided a list of 480 convictions in the 1990s. There is a separate scheme for redress for the pre-Horizon Capture computer system, designed to provide fair compensation for those who suffered financial shortfalls as a result of the faulty system.

The CCRC was reviewing a number of prosecutions, while a case had also been referred to the Court of Appeal.

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A 2019 judgment in a case brought by subpostmasters found Horizon was introduced in late 1999 and 2000. The court ruled the Post Office's insistence that the system could not cause discrepancies was inconsistent with evidence of bugs in both the original and later versions.

At the same hearing, Fujitsu boss Patterson was forced to defend accusations that the company continued to profit from the UK public sector despite its role in the miscarriage of justice.

Chairing the committee, Labour MP Liam Byrne questioned Fujitsu's decision not to put aside money or contribute to the compensation scheme until the public inquiry had reported.

"You're trying to present Fujitsu as a changed and ethical company. There doesn't appear to be a problem with cash flow, there doesn't appear to be a problem with profitability. There is definitely culpability. But your refusal to tell us how much Fujitsu will pay into a £1.8 billion bill for taxpayers leads people to the conclusion that, frankly, Fujitsu is behaving like a parasite on the British state without [stepping] up to its obligations," Byrne said.

"We're not a parasite," Patterson responded. "The government has got an option as to whether they wish to extend those contracts or not. If [it wishes us] to walk away from those contracts, we'll walk away from those contracts. I think that would be detrimental to society [and] the UK government."

He said Fujitsu had won around £500 million in re-procurement and contract extensions from the UK government since it promised not to bid for new government work in 2024. ®