WE ARE A MAGAZINE ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE | AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO
March 10 2025
WE ARE A MAGAZINE ABOUT LAW AND JUSTICE | AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO
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Post Office boss says he doesn’t need to ‘clear his name’ as inquiry hears of ongoing Horizon shortfalls

Post Office boss says he doesn’t need to ‘clear his name’ as inquiry hears of ongoing Horizon shortfalls

The outgoing boss of the Post Office has told the Horizon inquiry today he was told not to ‘dig into the details of the past’ by its leading lawyer when he first took on the job, replacing the disgraced former Chief Executive, Paula Vennells.

He told the inquiry that the ongoing scandal around the wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters was not a huge feature of the job advert, saying the higher ups at the Post Office were in a ‘dream world’.

He also said he was not aware of the ‘scale and enormity’ of the Horizon IT scandal before he started in the role and that he did not need to ‘clear his name’.

The inquiry also heard today that subpostmasters are still using their own money to pay off shortfalls occurring at this very moment, as revealed by a survey of subpostmasters presented by the inquiry chair. Almost three quarters of the respondents to the survey, which had around 1,000 replies, said they were spending their own money to fix shortfalls in late 2024.

Nick Read responded: ‘I just don’t know why the postmasters feel the need to do that. We have been absolutely explicit when we’ve investigated shortfalls, when it cannot be established how and why that shortfall has occurred, we are not imposing upon postmasters to pay it themselves through their own money. Maybe we are not getting that message clearly through. But there is no enforcement by the Post Office in that situation at all.’
He also acknowledged there remains a feeling of distrust towards the Post Office by subpostmasters.
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed this week that they are interviewing a third suspect under caution in relation to the scandal, over four years since their investigation began. This appears to mark a departure of, at least publicly, doing very little while the inquiry is ongoing.
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Samantha Dulieu is a freelance writer and News Editor of The Justice Gap. She has covered some of the most high profile miscarriages of justice in the UK, as well as law, policy, human rights issues, prisons, protest and migration. She also offers her expertise to All party Parliamentary Group on miscarriages of justice through its secretariat, the Future Justice Project.

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