POST OFFICE: HORIZON TRIALS – OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT REACHED
Further to LTBs 669/19 and 676/19 dated 21st/22nd November. An out of court settlement following two weeks of mediation has been announced today in regard to the Group Litigation brought by 557 Postmasters in relation to the Horizon system. The claim against the Post Office was brought by the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) and involved a number of test cases.
Whilst we are obviously pleased an outcome has been secured for the long suffering former Postmasters, it is hardly co-incidental that this announcement has been made on the eve of the General Election as I suspect it is likely to be lost by the mainstream media whose focus and attention will be on the voting intentions of the electorate.
At the moment, full details are sketchy and even though a settlement has been reached, the Judge – Justice Fraser is seemingly still planning to hand down his judgement in relation to the second trial on Monday 16th December.
Attached to this LTB is a Post Office “One Update” from the new Chief Executive Officer Nick Read coupled with a statement in which Nick Read apologises to those affected as follows:
“The Post Office would like to express its gratitude to claimants, and particularly those who attended the mediation in person to share their experiences with us, for holding us to account in circumstances where, in the past, we have fallen short and we apologise to those affected.”
In addition, below are links to two excellent articles, firstly a blog by the journalist Nick Wallis who has been reporting on this case since the very beginning of legal proceedings and secondly an article in today’s online edition of Computer Weekly which includes a quote from Mark Baker our Postmasters Branch Secretary.
https://www.postofficetrial.com/2019/12/its-all-over-parties-agree-resolution.html
Yours sincerely
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
19LTB703 – Post Office – Horizon Trials – Out of Court Settlement Reached
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