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The government has announced a retired High Court judge, Sir Wyn Williams, will lead a new inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT dispute.
The case saw dozens of postmasters falsely accused of accounting fraud, due to failure in the company’s security system.
The BBC reported that faults with the accounting system in Horizon led to shortfalls in branch accounts, leading to workers being convicted of theft and placed in jail.
In December 2019 a settlement of £57.75m was reached to conclude a long-running civil court case.
However, the government said the inquiry has been reopened to assess “whether lessons have been learned and concrete changes have taken place or are underway at Post Office Ltd”.
Sir Wyn Williams has over 28 years’ judicial experience. The terms of reference for the inquiry have been expanded following feedback from former postmasters since they were first published in June.
Postal Affairs Minister Paul Scully said: ”The Horizon dispute had a hugely damaging effect on the lives of postmasters and their families, and its repercussions are still being felt today”
”It is essential that we determine precisely what went wrong at the Post Office during this period, so we can ensure the right lessons have been learnt, and establish what must change to make sure this cannot happen again”.
