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Ms Karen Wightman
Acting Editor
BBC Panorama
London
31 July 2015
Dear Karen
Thank you for your email.
I am disappointed that you are still not providing evidence to support the allegations
you intend to include in your programme. Given your areas of questioning
presumably remain unchanged, I cannot see how we can be expected to provide
meaningful comment on bald, unsubstantiated and highly generalised assertions. This
remains of extreme concern to me regarding the fairness and balance of the
programme you intend to run.
Just to be clear about a point I made in my previous letter - I was not questioning
Panorama’s motive for its investigation but that of contributors taking part who have
very clear vested interests. I would also underline again in the strongest possible
terms that any examination of cases by Panorama cannot be full and fair because,
necessarily, you clearly have extremely limited, acontextual information about them in
the way they were conducted through the courts.
It is also extremely important that the programme takes full account of the fact the
independent inquiry and the process we undertook to investigate each and every
complaint put forward it was not and has never been a criminal case review, but
rather an investigation into whether Horizon operated as it should in a small number
of isolated cases, a minority of which involved a prosecution. A criminal case review
is one for specialist criminal lawyers, the Courts or the CCRC. Second Sight, which is
none of these, was engaged as experienced accountants and expressly acknowledged
that they are not experts in criminal law or procedure. This must be reflected in the
programme. Second Sight were not therefore provided with the legally privileged
information concerning prosecutions, a matter which reflects the role they were to
perform and was agreed by the working group of the mediation scheme in 2014.
You have also raised what I find to be an extraordinary rationale for considering
including highly damaging allegations from a contributor that Paula Vennells is
implicated in miscarriages of justice and that the Post Office is a bullying organisation.
I will certainly want to provide a very full response to this matter.
Given your focus on individual cases, that you will not provide an assurance that we
will not be asked about the specifics of those cases in interview, and that you will not
provide evidence for the assertions being made I believe Panorama is unfairly
preventing the Post Office from exercising its right to provide a fair and meaningful
reply.
You have said that the programme is not now due to air until 17 August. You have
only just responded to my letter of Tuesday and you have raised points that we need
Post Office Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered No. 2154540, .
Registered Office 148 Old Street, London, ECIV 9HQ postoffice.co.uk
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to additionally consider. I do not therefore think it reasonable to demand that we
respond to you by the end of today and request that we discuss the Post Office's
response in person or by phone on Monday.
Yours sincerely
Mark Davies
Communications and Corporate Affairs Director