Former Fujitsu boss Roger Gilbert has told the BBC the prosecution of sub-postmasters was only raised with him once during his tenure from 2009 to 2012.
The Horizon team assured him the Post Office was managing the prosecutions “competently and honestly”, he said.
He said he was “shocked” by the Post Office’s actions and expressed sympathy with victims of the scandal and their families.
He said he was “shocked” by the Post Office’s actions and expressed sympathy with victims of the scandal and their families.
The former Fujitsu UK boss shared his first detailed media comments on the Horizon scandal with the BBC. He chose to respond only by email to questions as said it allowed for considered answers.
He started his email by saying: “I am shocked by the Post Office’s actions in prosecuting so many innocent people. It is right that there is a public inquiry to investigate what happened and I am looking forward to their report which I am confident will provide much more insight than my very limited visibility of Horizon operations could provide.”
Mr Gilbert, 76, was chief executive of Fujitsu’s UK and Ireland business from April 2009 to March or April 2011, when he handed over to his successor Duncan Tait. He served as chairman for another year, before retiring in 2012.
This was a crucial period in the development of the Horizon scandal – the Post Office was securing the convictions of around 50 cases a year at that stage, accusing sub-postmasters of taking money that only appeared to be missing because of faults in the Horizon computer system designed by Fujitsu.
2009 was the year Computer Weekly published the results of a year-long investigation into the scandal, detailing the cases of former sub-postmasters Alan Bates, Lee Castleton, Jo Hamilton and others. It was a landmark report that played a major role in bringing the story out into the open.
Former Fujitsu boss Roger Gilbert has told the BBC the prosecution of sub-postmasters was only raised with him once during his tenure from 2009 to 2012.
He said he was “shocked” by the Post Office’s actions and expressed sympathy with victims of the scandal and their families.
The Horizon team assured him the Post Office was managing the prosecutions “competently and honestly”, he said.
The former Fujitsu UK boss shared his first detailed media comments on the Horizon scandal with the BBC. He chose to respond only by email to questions as said it allowed for considered answers.
He said he was “shocked” by the Post Office’s actions and expressed sympathy with victims of the scandal and their families.
He said he was “shocked” by the Post Office’s actions and expressed sympathy with victims of the scandal and their families.
The former Fujitsu UK boss shared his first detailed media comments on the Horizon scandal with the BBC. He chose to respond only by email to questions as said it allowed for considered answers.
He started his email by saying: “I am shocked by the Post Office’s actions in prosecuting so many innocent people. It is right that there is a public inquiry to investigate what happened and I am looking forward to their report which I am confident will provide much more insight than my very limited visibility of Horizon operations could provide.”
Mr Gilbert, 76, was chief executive of Fujitsu’s UK and Ireland business from April 2009 to March or April 2011, when he handed over to his successor Duncan Tait. He served as chairman for another year, before retiring in 2012.
This was a crucial period in the development of the Horizon scandal – the Post Office was securing the convictions of around 50 cases a year at that stage, accusing sub-postmasters of taking money that only appeared to be missing because of faults in the Horizon computer system designed by Fujitsu.
2009 was the year Computer Weekly published the results of a year-long investigation into the scandal, detailing the cases of former sub-postmasters Alan Bates, Lee Castleton, Jo Hamilton and others. It was a landmark report that played a major role in bringing the story out into the open.
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