Post Office investigator denies behaving like ‘Mafia gangster’ over Horizon scandal

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A Post Office investigator has denied claims he and others “behaved like Mafia gangsters” who tried to accumulate “bounty” from subpostmaster victims with threats and lies.

Hundreds of Post Office department managers have been convicted of swindling cash on the premise of proof from Fujitsu’s flawed Horizon IT accounting system.

Investigator Stephen Bradshaw informed the general public inquiry on Thursday that he denied the allegation “that I am a liar” and stated he was not outfitted to know whether or not there have been bugs within the Horizon IT system.

The inquiry heard a press release made by Jacqueline McDonald – who claimed she was “bullied” by Mr Bradshaw throughout a probe into her alleged £50,000 shortfall, and likewise accused Post Office investigators of “behaving like Mafia gangsters”.

Ms McDonald pleaded responsible to theft after an audit discovered there had been a shortfall of over £94,000. In her interview with Mr Bradshaw, Ms McDonald was accused by the investigator of telling him a “pack of lies”.

The counsel to the inquiry Julian Blake stated the witness’s phrases sounded “somewhat like language you might see in a 1970s television detective show”.

Responding to Ms McDonald’s allegations of his aggressive behaviour in his witness assertion, Mr Bradshaw stated: “I refute the allegation that I am a liar.”

He added: “I also refute the claim that Jacqueline McDonald was bullied … Ms Jacqueline McDonald is also incorrect in stating Post Office investigators behaved like Mafia gangsters looking to collect their bounty with the threats and lies.”

Throughout his witness assertion, Mr Bradshaw stated his investigations had been performed in a “professional” method.

The investigator – employed by the Post Office since 1978 – informed the inquiry he was not “technically minded” and was not outfitted to know whether or not there have been bugs or errors within the Horizon system.

The witness started giving proof on Thursday after being concerned within the legal investigation of 9 subpostmasters, together with Lisa Brennan, a former counter clerk at a put up workplace in Huyton, close to Liverpool, who was falsely accused of stealing £3,000 in 2003.

Mr Bradshaw has additionally been accused by subpostmistress Rita Threlfall of asking her for the color of her eyes and what jewelry she wore earlier than saying: “Good, so we’ve got a description of you for when they come”, throughout her interview in August 2010.

The investigator stated any information of flaws with Fujitsu’s Horizon software program not been “cascaded down” to investigators from the IT large or the Post Office board.

“I had no reason to suspect at the time that there was anything wrong with the Horizon system because we’d not been told,” stated Mr Bradshaw.

But he admitted that he had been informed by colleagues about newspaper articles highlighting issues with the Horizon system.

Mr Bradshaw stated a 2012 assertion signed by him declaring the Post Office’s “absolute confidence” within the Horizon IT system was written by legal professionals from the legislation agency Cartwright King.

Asked if it was acceptable for him to declare “confidence” within the system, he stated: “In hindsight…there probably should have been another line stating, ‘These are not my words’.”

It has additionally emerged that investigators have been handed money bonuses for each conviction of a department supervisor throughout the scandal.

Alan Bates – the campaigning subpostmaster who featured within the ITV drama on the scandal – condemned the “horrendous” tradition of economic rewards.

Gary Thomas – a former member of the Post Office safety workforce between 2000 and 2012 – informed the general public inquiry there have been “bonus objectives” for investigators. Asked if influenced his actions, he stated: “I’d probably be lying if I said no.”

Another former Post Office investigator Dave Posnett informed the inquiry final month that bonuses have been partly based mostly on the sums of cash recovered as soon as subpostmasters had been convicted. Mr Posnett stated “everyone within the security team was on a bonus, depending on their own objectives”.

It follows Rishi Sunak’s announcement that a whole bunch of subpostmasters would have convictions overturned beneath blanket laws to be launched inside weeks.

And justice secretary Alex Chalk has stated IT large Fujitsu ought to repay the “fortune” spent on compensation whether it is discovered culpable on the public inquiry.

The justice secretary has stated that Mr Sunak’s authorities will wish to “secure proper recompense on behalf of the taxpayer” if the inquiry delivers a damning verdict on the agency behind the defective software program.

“If the scale of the incompetence is as we might imagine, then I simply would want to secure proper recompense on behalf of the taxpayer,” Mr Chalk informed ITV’s Peston.