'Profound evil' at the heart of Post Office - IT inquiry lawyer
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"The evil the Post Office did was profound", a lawyer has told the Horizon IT scandal inquiry while describing a "deliberate conspiracy" and "cover up". Edward Henry KC, who is representing victims, delivered his closing submission to the hearings with a powerful and damning monologue.
He accused the Post Office of "profound evil", adding that it "was the cause, the perpetrator and prolonger of the one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in our history.". More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted of offences including theft, fraud and false accounting between 1999 and 2015.
Watch: Live stream of Post Office Inquiry. Faulty Horizon computer software, provided by Fujitsu, caused erroneous shortfalls in accounts, but Mr Henry asserted that "Horizon didn't destroy the innocent - the malignant culture of the Post Office did.". He described it as having "contempt" for sub-postmasters and spoke of "corrosive prejudice" against victims alongside its "desire for absolute control over them", saying that was the "incubator for these terrible events.".
Post Office scandal latest: Sub-postmasters to make closing statements as final days of inquiry begin. 'Dozens of people' being investigated over Post Office scandal, police chief reveals. Post Office scandal: Daughter of victim, who was investigated as she fought cancer, calls on Fujitsu for compensation.
