Post Office scandal: Police consider corporate manslaughter charges

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/post- ... r-charges/

Police investigating the Post Office Horizon IT scandal have said they are considering charges of corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said in an update for victims that the investigation was focused on eight suspects, with five interviews conducted under caution.

It said there were 53 persons of interest, most of whom were likely to be later treated as suspects in Operation Olympos, the criminal investigation launched in 2020.

The NPCC said: “The primary and sole focus remains the offences of perverting the course of justice and perjury, and this has not changed.

“However, as was done with fraud offences previously, advice is being sought from the [Crown Prosecution Service] around the offences of corporate and gross negligent manslaughter.”

Under corporate manslaughter laws brought in 2008, companies face criminal charges rather than individuals. The statutory offence of corporate manslaughter was introduced to “prosecute organisations where they have paid scant regard to the proper management of health and safety with fatal results”.

According to the Sentencing Council, there is no upper limit on the fine that companies can face if found guilty.

More than 900 people were prosecuted for financial offences relating to errors in Fujitsu’s Horizon IT system, which falsely created shortfalls in Post Office branches for which sub-postmasters were held liable.

Sub-postmasters faced criminal charges and financial ruin, with some individuals imprisoned because of the faulty software.

A public inquiry, led by Sir Wyn Williams, into what has been described as the UK’s worst miscarriage of justice, said there was “a real possibility” that 13 people took their own lives as a result of their experiences. Others died while awaiting justice.

Officers are appealing to any former sub-postmasters who may have signed non-disclosure agreements with the Post Office to come forward, after confirmation that the NDAs would no longer be enforced.

People under police investigation are believed to include Post Office investigators, legal advisers and senior management who worked for the Post Office and Fujitsu.

Labour peer Kevan Jones, who has campaigned for years for justice for postmasters, welcomed the news that police were considering corporate manslaughter charges.

“It’s a welcome development but individuals still need to be held accountable for their part in ruining the lives of hundreds of decent hard-working people,” he said. “This should now be a way of those individuals, including senior figures at the Post Office and Fujitsu, answering for their part in this scandal.”

A lead investigator has previously indicated that criminal proceedings may not begin before 2028.