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In the Guildford Crown Court
Seema Misra
Further Request for Disclosure
Contract
1) Please provide a copy of our client’s signed Post Office Contract for Services. The
initial response to this request was that it was already provided at pages 11 and 12
of the exhibit bundle. Page 11 is a signed acknowledgement and page 12 is page 47
of the contract. Please provide a full copy of the contract signed by our client.
2
In a response dated 30 December 2008 to an FO! request, the Post Office indicated
that, between July 1999 and December 2008, 244 sub-postmasters had their
contracts terminated under si, Paragraph 10 of their Contract for Services.
a) Please confirm the same information for 2009
b) Please indicate how many of those sub-postmasters had losses recorded
on the Horizon system.
Training
1) Please provide a copy of the training manual supplied to the Defendant.
2) Please provide the date when the manual was supplied and, if supplied in parts, the
dates on which each part was supplied.
3) Please provide copy records of all training provided to the Defendant.
4) Please provide details of the qualifications of the trainer and their ability to train
sub-postmasters on the Horizon system.
5) During the second week of the Defendant’s tenure as sub-postmistress at West
Byfleet the trainer was present during the weekly reconciliation. He called the
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helpline to request explanation as to a loss as, in his opinion, the Defendant had at
all times followed procedure. No explanation was given and the Defendant made
good the loss. Please provide the following information:-
a) The name and contact details of that trainer (to assist in identification the
defendant recalls his name was Michael and he was black).
b) What enquiries were made, bearing in mind the request came from a
trainer, as to the cause of this loss.
6
In light of the above, the statement by Fujitsu that the calls to the helpline were of a
routine nature is not accepted. Please provide a copy of the log of all-calls made to
the helpline by West Byfleet Post Office for a period from 6 months prior to the
Defendant becoming sub-post until the present day.
7
Has the Post Office provided any training in the identification of lost EPOSS
transactions and, if so, please provide details of when such training was provided to
the Defendant.
Investigation
8) During investigation the Defendant was given the clear impression that she was the
only sub post office suffering with difficulties. Please confirm how many sub post
offices have undergone some form of investigation, since the introduction of the
Horizon system, arising from alleged losses on the system.
9)
During the Defence visit to the sub Post Office at West Byfleet, the investigating
officer, John Longman, made it clear that it was Post Office policy that investigating
officers should never consider systems problems as relevant to their enquiry. Please
provide details of the reasoning behind this policy.
10)John Longman accepted that there was no Post Office requirement that he should
understand the operation of the Horizon system in order to properly conduct his
investigations. Please provide details of the training given to investigators to enable
them to properly conduct an investigation. Given his lack of understanding of the
system what back up teams does the Post Office have to ensure all reasonable
explanations are considered before a criminal investigation is commenced.
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Horizon System
11) In the Defence Expert's interim report reference was made to the need to have sight
of service logs for West Byfleet. Comment has been made as to the huge cost
involved in pursuing this exercise. Please provide details as to the work involved in
this action and why the cost is so high. Depending on the answer provided to this
request and others contained in this document, a decision will then be taken by the
defence as to whether this action needs to be pursued.
12) Please provide details of any business testing carried out by the Post Office on the
Horizon system before it went live.
13) Please provide a certified audit trail in relation to the Defendant's Horizon accounts.
14) Please confirm the following:-
a) When, and why, the hardware in the system at West Byfleet Post Office has
been changed.
b) When new hardware was installed at West Byfleet was it brand new or
reconditioned (i.e. existing hardware that has been wiped prior to
installation).
If it is the latter please confirm the identity of the Post Office from which the
reconditioned hardware came and why the hardware had been removed
from that Post Office.
c)
15) Please find attached a statement from Eleanor Nixon. In light of the content please
provide the following Information:-
a) in relation to the sub post office in Highcliffe, Dorset:-
i) Full disclosure of the issues raised by her.
ii) The nature of the apparent losses.
iii) Full disclosure of the steps taken by the Post Office to rectify those
losses on the system thereby removing the deficit.
The findings of the Post Office as to the cause of the Horizon system
to show these losses.
v) The identity and contact details of the woman who contacted her
with a view to resolving the problem.
The identity of other post offices that were found to be having problems as a
result of her enquiries,
c) Whether those Post Offices also had deficits rectified.
d) What steps, if any, were taken by the Post Office to upgrade the Horizon
system nationally to take into account their findings.
iv
b)
16) The Defence Expert’s second interim report makes reference to the visit to an un-
named post office. Please confirm that no action will be taken against the post
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master in respect of our visit in order that we can identify this post office and
request full disclosure in relation to that post office.
17) In light of the Post Office’s stated intention to commence rolling out the new
computerised accounting system from January 2010, please confirm what steps are
being taken to preserve the end to end architecture of the Horizon system in general
and, in particular, to West Byfleet Post Office.
18) The Prosecution has always maintained that there is no problem with the Horizon
system. Further it has given the impression that the Defendant's defence of raising
issue with the system has no merit. To counter that stance, the Defence raise the
following cases by way of example. Others are in the pipeline.
a) On 9" December 2009 the trial of R v Macdonald, a post office prosecution
for theft and false accounting, is due to commence at Preston Crown Court.
In that case the Defence have served an interim expert’s report from a
Forensic Accountant raising potential issues, similar to this Defence Expert’s
IT report, with the Horizon System. Please provide full disclosure of this case
including prosecution summary, defence case statement and expert's report.
b) On 14” December 2009 the trial of R v Hosi, a post office prosecution for
theft and false accounting, is due to commence at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
In that case the Defence have served an interim expert’s report from a
Forensic Accountant, similar to this Defence Expert's IT report, raising
potential issues with the Horizon System. Please provide full disclosure of this
case including prosecution summary, defence case statement and expert’s
report.
19) In light of the information supplied to the Prosecution in paragraphs 15, 16 and 17
above please now provide details of:-
a) All post offices, past and present, that have experienced losses with the
Horizon system.
b) All prosecutions, past and present that have been brought for theft
and/or false accounting as a result of alleged losses on the Horizon
system.
When considering the request raised in this paragraph, we have taken into careful
consideration that prosecutions by the Post Office are dealt with by one office as
opposed to the CPS which Kas numerous offices around the country.
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Issy Hogg
Coomber Rich Solicitors
Yard House
May Place
Basingstoke
RG21 7NX
) 006/008