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Message
From: Emily B Springford ¢
Sent: 20/12/2011 14:20:43
To: Helen Watson [/O=BOND PEARCE/OU=First Administrative Group/cn=Recipients/cn=hfw1]
Subject: FW: JFSA claims - disclosure and evidence gathering
Attachments: Horizon - Sources of documents (5).doc
For info.
Kind regards
Emily
From: Emily B Springford
Sent: 20 December 2011 14:19
To: John Breeden
Cc: Sabrina Jethwa
Subject: RE: JFSA claims - disclosure and evidence gathering
John,
Many thanks for the updated chart (Sabrina, attached here for ease of reference).
On your specific questions:
- yes, insofar as they relate to the 4 specified branches, or the Prosser (Blackwood) case if any can be found (Sabrina
will let you know if further claims are brought).
- no, in relation to files relating to individual branches. However, if there are boxes at IM containing general policy
documents, we would like to recall those now if that is feasible, as mentioned below.
Thanks again for your help with this and many other matters! Have a great Christmas.
Kind regards
Emily
From: John Breeden
Sent: 19 December 2011 15:15
To: Emily B Springford
Subject: RE: JFSA claims - disclosure and evidence gathering
Privileged and confidential
Emily,
Thanks for your email below.
I have updated the spreadsheet to hopefully make the information more specific as requested — additions made in blue.
Just a couple of points from your email dated 20 October which are:-
Document preservation:-
- do we want to include on the list of relevant documents performance and conduct case papers?
- do we want to suspend the Iron Mountain destruction policy of destroying files after 7 years (I think we have
discussed this and said no to this question in the past).
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Regards
John
John Breeden
Agents Contracts Deployment Manager North
Post Office Ltd - Network Services
2nd Floor, The Markets Crown Office, 6/16 New York Street, Leeds LS2 7DZ
Email john.breede:
Confidential Information: This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipient (s) and may contain
confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are
not the intended recipient, please contact me by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
From: Emily B Springford
Sent: 15 December 2011 10:42
To: Alison Bolsover; John Breeden; Sue Richardson; Graham Padget; Sarah Rimmer; Dave Hulbert
Cc: Sabrina Jethwa
Subject: FW: JFSA claims - disclosure and evidence gathering
Privileged and confidential
Dear all,
Please see the email below: this message should have reached you via your team leaders but in the interests of certainty
I have included it here.
I understand that you kindly helped Alison to complete the attached table, showing the sources of documents which may
be relevant. Many of these appear to relate to individual branches. Our solicitors have asked where we keep documents
relating to general policy surrounding the issues below (branch accounting, recruitment, training, Horizon issues and so
On) as opposed to information on specific branches.
Could you each please update the table to make clear where such documents are held? If they are sent to Iron Mountain
after a period of time, please could you indicate at what stage they are sent there and how they would be described, so
that we can consider how readily they could be identified and retrieved.
Please do give me a call if anything isn't clear. Many thanks for your help.
Kind regards
Emily Springford
Principal
ispute Resolution
First Floor, 35-50 Rathbone Place
London W1T 1HQ
From: Emily B Springford
Sent: 20 October 2011 15:51
To: Angela Van-Den-Bogerd; Lesley ] Sewell; Mike Granville; Dave Pardoe; Rebekah Mantle; Hugh Flemington; David
Simpson; Mike Young; Kevin Gilliland; Susan Crichton; Chris M Day; Sue Huggins; John M Scott
Subject: JFSA claims - disclosure and evidence gathering
Privileged and confidential
Dear all,
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As you are aware, POL has received 4 letters of claim from former subpostmasters, making a number of allegations about
the training they received, the support available to them in using the Horizon system, and the Horizon system itself. There
is a possibility that these letters of claim will be followed up with Court proceedings, in which case POL will have a duty to
disclose to the claimants all documents relevant to the claims, even if they might adversely affect POL's defence. This
obligation extends to soft copy documents (emails, and all documents stored on the IT network, hard drives, handheld
devices and so on) as well as hard copy documents and manuscript notes.
Please ensure that this communication reaches everyone in your department who has access to, or who is in a position to
create, documents relating to the issues arising in the claims (as set out more fully below). I have started a list of teams
which we believe may hold relevant documents. The list is attached: I should be grateful if you would let me know of any
other teams which might hold documents relevant to the claims.
Document preservation
POL must take immediate steps to preserve all documents which might potentially be relevant to these claims. “Relevant”
documents are those which contain information about the issues below:
* the subpostmasters or branches in question (i.e. Scott Darlington of Alderley Edge branch, Julian Wilson of Astwood
Bank branch, Terrence Walters of Hockley branch or Thakshila Somaskandarajah of Splott Road branch). This list will
increase if further letters of claim are received, and we will of course let you know if and when further claims are received
*the recruitment of subpostmasters
* the training given to subpostmasters.
* the support given to subpostmasters in using the Horizon system, including, but not limited to, the Helplines
* the integrity of the Horizon system
* POL's branch accounting procedures
Please note that no historic time limit applies, so that all documentation within these categories should be preserved,
regardless of when it was created.
Could each of you please inform the members of your teams who hold or create documents in these categories that they
should not delete or destroy any documents in these categories until further notice.
It is important that you keep a note of any routine document destruction policies that you suspend within your department,
and the dates on which they are suspended, together with a note of any other steps you take to ensure that your
department complies with the above requirements.
Document creation
It is very important that we control the creation of documents which relate to any of the above issues and which might be
potentially damaging to POL's defence to the claims, as these may have to be disclosed if these claims proceed to
litigation. Your staff should therefore think very carefully before committing to writing anything relating to the above issues
which is critical of our own processes or systems, including emails, reports or briefing notes. We appreciate that this will
not always be practicable, however.
Where it is necessary to create a document containing critical comment on these issues, it will in certain circumstances be
possible to claim privilege over the document, so that POL will not have to disclose it in any proceedings. As litigation is
now a distinct possibility, the document will be privileged if its dominant purpose is to give/receive legal advice about the
litigation or to gather evidence for use in the litigation. This also applies to communications with third parties - i.e. with
other organisations - provided they are confidential and their dominant purpose is as set out above. All of the following
steps should be taken in order to maximise the chances of privilege attaching to the document:
* If the dominant purpose of the communication is not to obtain legal advice, try to structure the document in such
a way that its dominant purpose can be said to be evidence gathering for use in the litigation;
* Mark every such communication "legally privileged and confidential";
* If you are sending the document to someone, state in the covering email/memo/letter that you are not waiving
privilege by doing so;
* Request that the recipient of a communication confirm that the document will be kept confidential and that
he/she will not forward it to anyone else;
* Think very carefully before "replying to all" on an email - do all the recipients need to see the communication?
* Where possible and appropriate, copy a member of Legal Services into the communication, and make clear that
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you are doing so to enable them to advise on the content. Please note that copying a member of Legal Services
into the communication alone will not necessarily suffice.
If in doubt, call Legal Services before committing anything to writing which relates to these issues and contains critical
wording.
Please telephone me if you would like to discuss any of this.
Kind regards
Emily Springford
Principal Lawyer - Dispute Resolution
First Floor, 35-50 Rathbone Place
London W1T 1HQ
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