POL00003386
POL00003386
FREETHS
Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP
DX 38517 Southampton 3
Email: james.hartl
02 October 2018
Third Letter
By e-mail only: Andrew.parsons¢
Our Ref: JXH/1684/2113618/3/CO
Your Ref AP6/364065.1369
Dear Sirs
THE POST OFFICE GROUP LITIGATION
DEFENDANT’S DISCLOSURE - THE PEAK SYSTEM
We write further to your letter dated 27 September 2018 providing disclosure of the Peak System.
We do not propose to waste time setting out the history of this issue in detail as it is known by both
parties, however, for the record, we would like to clarify the following.
Your client purports that there has been an “open invitation” for Mr Coyne to undertake further
inspections of the system. The court ordered your client to make reasonable endeavours to provide
two days access to the system. When we were seeking to arrange access for two days in June 2018,
your Jonathan Gribben would only agree to a 1 day visit in the first instance (despite what had been
ordered by the Court) stating that “two hours for each system [the PEAK and TFS] should be
sufficient’ and that “it is not an absolute obligation to provide 2 days’ access”. Mr Gribben also stated
that it was not an opportunity for the experts to ask any questions of the Fujitsu personnel and that
any requests should be put in writing. Given the restrictions placed on Mr Coyne by you, Mr Coyne
focused his requests for information in his RFI (again, as ordered by the Court). Your client declined
to respond to a number of those requests on the basis that Mr Coyne had not set out why they were
relevant to the Horizon Issues. Your client has changed its position and seemingly now believes that
the full PEAK system should be disclosed, rather than responding to the narrow requests made by
Mr Coyne.
This extremely late disclosure of 220,000 documents, two weeks before Mr Coyne’s report is due to
be served, appears to us to be calculated to disrupt the Claimants’ expert finalising his report.
Please read our Data Protection Privacy Notice at www.freeths.co.uk
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POL00003386
POL00003386
2 October 2018
Third Letter
Page 2
The Claimants’ position is fully reserved in relation to the impact that this may have on the directions
timetable, including the service of Mr. Coyne’s report.
Furthermore, we note that you have withheld 3,866 documents on the basis of privilege, which you
are currently reviewing. We find it hard to understand on what basis these documents, being
technical documents created and held by Fujitsu could be privileged. Please provide disclosure of
these documents as a matter of urgency.
We note from your letter dated 1 October 2018 that you have requested that Mr Coyne provides your
client with documents referred to in his report, in advance of the deadline for him to file and serve
the same (being 16 October, and not 12 October as stated in your letter). As you will appreciate,
given your client’s late disclosure of 220,000 additional documents, this will not be possible in
advance of the deadline for Mr Coyne’s report.
,--Yours faithfully
Loeage mene
Freeths LLP
Please respond by e-mail where possible
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