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From: Alisdair Cameron{i_ 3
Sent: Mon 24/06/2019 5:41:59 PM (UTC)
To: Rob Hought x]; Kim Abbottsf,
Ben Foat[t “
Ce: Mark R Davies{_ “} Patrick _
Bourke*~ Thomag,,...
Subject: FW: Another computer error
Spoke to Tim. I said nothing other than banalities with no comment on the case.
Contact contacted by a sub-postmaster. REM in, accepted by an assistant.
Normal receipt print. Money to safe. Did cash dec. Found he was £20k gain. The
receipt printed only for part of the REM. Reported it to the helpline. They have
done nothing.
Not prepared to identify the Subpostmaster. Not the only one and “they” know
that.
Kim, Can we find out what the problem is, if its widespread and how we resolve
it. Can we identify?
Secondly, Mag stripe readers, bar code scanner, touch screens etc are not
reporting accurately “prevalent”, missing out first few characters. 2k facebook
group of Pms with screen shots. Also shows data it shouldn’t. Could have the
same root cause. Rob can someone look into this — it cant be a secret of 2k
postmasters are facebooking about it?
Ben. Seema Misra - read the transcript. Can I see it please.
Kind regards and thanks Al
Al Cameron
Interim Chief Executive
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ
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From: Alisdair Cameron
Sent: 23 June 2019 11:45
To: Tim McCormack <t;
Subject: Re: Another computer error
Thanks Tim, I am going to struggle to call you today but would you have any time tomorrow after 6? Al
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From: Tim McCormack ¢
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2019 17
To: Alisdair Cameron
Subject: Re: Another computer error
Dear Al
Please call me Tim if you don't mind.
I am greatly encouraged by what you say with regard to criticism. I regard that as
far more important than praise and as you say, when it is justified it can only lead to
making things better.
The error in question is serious. Details of it are being treated as confidential within
my circles and it is pretty certain that the media will be publishing something on it
fairly soon. Breaking that confidence with the people I trust could have consequences
I suppose - most notably that I will not be party to future disclosures.
However my interest in matters to do with Post Office will cease after the CCRC report
back on the Seema Misra case, presumably with a return to the Appeal court so it
doesn't matter too much I suppose. So perhaps we could have a quick chat and I will
let you know what I have heard. I would really hope that you have been told all
about it already but given the inaction of the Helpline and FSC in responding (the
SPMR was told that it would take a week or so for the FSC to get in touch) I doubt it.
As Paula pointed out when I first told her about Dalmellington her main concern was
the lackadaisical response to what was a £24k loss. This is a similar amount!
Although I might pop out for a bit during the rest of the day, I finish working in a
couple of minutes and can be contacted on:
Kind regards
Tim
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From: Alisdair Cameron <
Sent: 23 June 2019 10:42
To: Tim McCormack
Subject: Re: Another computer error
Dear Mr McCormack,
Thank you so much for contacting me, I do appreciate it.
I agree we share an absolute focus on building a sustainable network for our customers and that must involve a closer
partnership with Postmasters.
You will see that I am making very substantial changes in advisers and culture and I suspect there may not prove to be
as much difference between us as you assume. Certainly I have no dislike of you and as I say repeatedly within PO,
criticism, challenge and questioning should not be taken as attacks to be defended but as opportunities to do better.
If you are aware of any computer issue then I would be very grateful if you would share the detail with me so I can
ensure it is investigated. In exchange I will happily sit down with you and explain what we find. Nothing is perfect and
if there is an issue we are best off acknowledging and addressing it.
Kind regards
Al
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From: Tim McCormack
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2019 10:31 am
To: Alisdair Cameron
Subject: Another computer error
Dear Mr Cameron
I have no idea if you know of me or not but as was mentioned in Court, your predecessor certainly was and I
believe she took me reasonably seriously. I can also be reasonably certain that she and I had a mutual dislike
for each other and I would expect that to be the case with yourself. However all three of us must surely share
a common purpose and that is to see a strong and profitable Post Office network run for the benefit of ALL its
members, be they customers, subpostmasters, employees or indeed the government as the owner.
We obviously differ entirely in how that could and should be achieved and I make no apology for insisting that
the first step would be to replace the entire management team that has led the network to this crisis
point. Your team in the court room has stated that in so many words — if the claimants win it will be an
existential risk to the company. I would interpret that risk as being more to do with the sustainability of the
network given the bad publicity that will result and more people will be reluctant to take on a Post Office
branch.
I have thought long and hard about bothering to write to you about the information I have to hand given that it
will be of more use to the claimants than yourself but I think it is worthy of a last shot at convincing the CEO
of Post Office Ltd that the people you rely on to provide you with the information you need to make decisions
are at best ignorant of what is actually going on or perhaps more likely totally incompetent.
T don’t know what they have brought to your attention recently but the single most important piece of
information you should be dealing with right now is a new error in your computer systems that, as it stands,
cannot be introduced into the current trial but should be. This error places the boot on the other foot so to
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speak and it is for POL to discover not SPMRs. It is not just the error that you should be concerned with it is
the fact that your company has learned nothing from the past and the revelations in court. Nothing has
changed and it won’t as long as these people remain in a complete state of denial that the events that are
unfolding now have occurred in the past and will occur again in the future. No amount of counter measures
that Dr Worden has helpfully suggested might be in place can change the problem of the culture and ability of
the people you should be able to trust.
The solution to all of this is perfectly simple. Second Sight was stopped from exploring further and finding the
true extent of the problems inherent in your organisation. They need to be re-appointed to finish what they
started and they need the support of someone who wants to discover the truth and who is willing to make the
changes to prevent any re-occurrence.
Finally, consider this, and I must assume you have done so in the past, but do it again now. How could POL
have prevented this trial? What steps should have been taken from the very start of the introduction of
Horizon and how should the relationship between subpostmasters and POL have been handled? You need to
answer these questions and implement the solutions to ensure that POL has no need to revisit these matters
once again in the not too distant future. The people that are responsible for the current state of affairs are not
part of the solution.
With the best of intentions
Yours sincerely
Tim McCormack
JESS ISOS IE IEE ODIO OFS OCICS OEE OCS IO COR ORE IOS ISIAH I IEE
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