POL00064276
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Witness Statement
(CJ Act 1967, s9; MC Act 1980, ss 54(3)(a)
and 5B, MC Rules 1981, r 70)
Statement of Alan STUART
Age if under 18 Over 18 (If over 18 insert ‘over 18')
This statement (consisting of two pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and
belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have
wilfully stated in it anything, which I know to be false or do not believe true.
Dated the 18th Dayof December 2006
Signature A Stuart
lam the person named above and have been employed by Post Office Ltd
for approximately 19 years. I currently work in Admin Support within the Post
Office Ltd Audit Team. Up until recently, I worked as a Senior Auditor,
whereby part of my duty was to visit Post Office Branches and reconcile the
figures in the Post Office accounts with the physical cash, stock and paid
vouchers actually on hand in order to establish that there is no loss of Post
Office funds.
Post Offices use a fully automated computerised accounting system known
as HORIZON. The Post Office accounting system is such that each Post
Office Branch produces a monthly Branch Trading Statement. This monthly
period is known as the Branch Trading Period. Each Trading Period
consists of either four or five weeks, with each week running from start of
business on the Thursday to close of business on the Wednesday. Each
week is referred to as a Balance Period. A Final Balance conducted at the
period end, detailing the cash and stock on hand as declared by the
Signature A Stuart Signature witnessed by I Smith
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Witness Statement
(CJ Act 1967, s9; MC Act 1980, ss 5A(3)(a) and 5B, MC Rules 1981, r 70)
Continuation of statement of Alan Stuart
Postmaster and including all transactions conducted in that period, should
be printed and signed as correct by the Postmaster.
At the end of each Branch Trading Period a Trading Statement should be
printed and signed by the Postmaster. The Trading Statement should be a
true reflection of all cash and stock on hand and represent all transactions
conducted in that period.
Each Post Office outlet should have a Branch Trading Calendar that
indicates when to produce a Branch Trading Statement.
The system is also able to produce an Office Snapshot, which summarises
the state of the accounts, and takes into account all transactions up to the
time the snapshot was generated. An Office Snapshot can be generated at
any time.
On 09 March 2006 I conducted an audit at South Warnborough Sub Post
Office Branch (SPOB), Branch Code 092/904. Ms Elaine Ridge, Post Office
Ltd Area Intervention Manager advised me that the Subpostmistress, Mrs
Josephine Hamilton, was not well enough to attend the office. Ms Ridge
stated that she had obtained from Mrs Hamilton the keys to access the Post
Office and safe. Ms Ridge and myself, together with Mr Graham Brander,
Post Office Ltd Investigation Manager then entered the Post Office, where I
conducted a full audit of the accounts.
Signature A Stuart Signature witnessed by I Smith
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Witness Statement
(CJ Act 1967, s9; MC Act 1980, ss 5A(3)(a) and 5B, MC Rules 1981, r 70)
Continuation of statement of Alan Stuart
The final result of the audit was a shortage of £36,583.12. The bulk of the
audit shortage was due to a £35,426.58 deficit in the cash. The other
discrepancies were a £1,159.36 deficit in the stock and a £2.82 surplus
identified as a difference in the foreign currency figures. I now produce a
schedule detailing the resulting audit discrepancies as item reference
number AS/01 and have signed the identification label bearing that item
number.
An Audit and Inspections Cash On Hand Summary was also completed
during the audit to show the total value of each cash denomination that was
on hand on 09 March 2006. I now produce this Cash On Hand Summary as
item reference number AS/02 and have signed the identification label
bearing that item number. A Stuart
Signature A Stuart Signature witnessed by I Smith
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