The Post Office has issued a landmark apology over a second IT scandal dating back more than 30 years that was first exposed in The i Paper.
It has sent a letter to the widower of a former sub-postmistress who spent decades battling the Post Office over money that auditors claimed was missing from her branch in the North East.
In the letter, the Post Office admitted for the first time that there were “significant failings” in Capture, a piece of software rolled out in the 1990s.
Simon Recaldin, director of the Remediation Unit at the Post Office, told Ken Tooby, the widower of June Tooby: “I am writing to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to you, on behalf of the company and myself.
“It is clear through the efforts of former Postmasters and their families that there were significant failings at the Post Office relating to Capture.”
Mrs Tooby was sued for more than £55,000 plus interest by the Post Office in 2003 despite the fact she had already been sacked and was struggling financially.
She died in 2020 aged 71, but it is thanks to a hoard of documents she kept in her loft that Capture campaigners have been able to expose the scandal.
Ms Tooby’s original receipt showing the Post Office sold a computer system called Capture to sub-postmasters in the 1990s
Capture was used by at least 2,500 sub-postmasters between 1992 and 1999, but was prone to bugs and glitches which caused accounting shortfalls.
In a precursor to the Horizon scandal, sub-postmasters were forced to hand over money, sacked, and in some cases criminally prosecuted.
At least 27 convictions are currently being considered by the miscarriages of justice watchdog, while the Government is in the process of setting up a new compensation scheme for payouts.
Mr Recaldin’s letter continues: “We are truly sorry for these failings and their impact on all concerned, including your late wife June.
“We deeply regret that June was not able to receive this apology herself, see these issues recognised alongside the Horizon scandal, denied the opportunity to see the truth uncovered, for justice to prevail and see her good name restored.”
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A court transcript related to Mrs Tooby’s case shows how the Post Office stated under oath that its computer system was not faulty
Mr Tooby has been invited to receive an apology in person from the Post Office, if he wishes.
Speaking to The i Paper, he and his niece Vivian said the apology means “the world” to them.