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Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP
vt
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA 0AA
The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP 25 March 2019
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H OET
Our Ref: ZA13100
dem Greg
lam writing on behalf of a constituent, Peter Holloway,
ho recently contacted me regarding the subpostmasters court case.
I would be grateful if you could look into my constituent’s concerns and outline the Government's
position on this matter.
I look forward to hearing from you.
J
Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed
3 Email: {7
Telephone:
I send a regular e-newsletter to keep residents i
To receive it email “subscribe” to f°
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~ 25/03/2019 View Email
Peter Holloway 19 March 2019 21:19
To: =TREVELYAN, Anne-Mari
Sub Postmasters High Court Case against Post Office
Briefing Note to Claimants - Common Issues Trial Judgment.pdf
Dear Mrs Trevelyan,
We had an email correspondence prior to the start of the trail a while ago, when I introduced myself as one
of the claimants living in Ellington. I requested your support should the need arise although with the
impending trial at the time it was inappropriate.
I am sure you are aware that Judgement on the first part of the trail came down very strongly for the Sub
Post Masters, with strong criticism of the Management of the Post Office. We are currently in the second
phase of the trail looking at the Horizon system operated by the Post Office. We are confident of a similar
outcome.
The Post Office are fighting the case vigorously and are already considering appealing the first
Judgement. However, two of their Senior Managers have been found lying under oath in the court whilst
giving their evidence with severe adverse comments by the Judge.
I respectively request that you to raise questions with the Minister responsible for Post Offices, as to
whether they have seen the Judgement of the court and what is the Minister proposing to do about it. The
Government is the single shareholder of Post Office and that Government, in its own words ‘has an arm’s
length’ approach to managing Post Office, and it is this very ‘arm's length’ approach that has created this
position whereby Post Office is in the middle of a train crash and refuses to see it. Mean while people like
me have been fighting for “Justice” for over ten years having lost many hundreds of thousands of Pounds
at the hands of The Post Office. There are 550 of in this Joint Action many have been forced into
Bankruptcy, some sent to prison, all severely financial disadvantaged. AND The Post Office has been, and
is still, spending millions of pounds of public money to defend its entrenched position and the reputations
of an incompetent executive and a Board that either doesn’t care or doesn’t understand what is going on.
Over the last ten years there have been three enquiries all of which the Post refused to accept their
findings, an attempt at mediation, at which The Post Office refused to mediate, its time for the Post office
to accept the true position and agree to settle with us who have been so badly treated. Ten years is too
long and if they continue to refuse to see the inevitable it could take over two more years before any
settlements are made.
1 have included some links for you that might be helpful to understand the position and the briefing notes
sent to us by our solicitors. I am sorry if this reads like a rant but after Ten years of suffering and fighting, I
can see the end in sight, but it seems so very far away, and I am getting older (I am almost 71) and want
this settled.
The Judgment will be available to view in full online at: www.judiciary.ukhttp:/Awww.judiciary.uk and
www.bailii.orghttp://www.bailii.org
Regards
Peter Holloway
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https://atrevelyan.caseworkermp.com/viewemallpopup.php?emaillD=3143&print=yes 1M
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BREIFING NOTE TO CLAIMANTS I 15 March 2019 FREETHS
Soariieueieo F R E E T H S
BRIEFING NOTE TO CLAIMANTS I 15 March 2019
This briefing note gives an update on the Judgment in the Common Issues Trial.
Major Victory for Postmasters in leqal battle against the Post Office
Today’s High Court Judgment
Mr Justice Fraser has today handed down a landmark judgment in favour of over 550 Postmasters in their
Group Action against the Post Office.
As well as deciding very important legal points about the relationship between The Post Office and
Postmasters, Mr Justice Fraser made very clear findings about how The Post Office had treated six individual
Postmasters who gave evidence at a trial in November / December 2018 and its wider approach to pursuing
supposed debts shown on the Horizon computer system.
The case
The postmasters, who ran Post Office branches across the UK, have brought this claim seeking redress for
the problems they experienced with Post Office’s IT system, known as Horizon, and for the way in which Post
Office suspended or terminated many of their appointments.
The first trial was heard over 4 weeks in November 2018 in the High Court in London (Rolls Building), when
evidence was given by 20 witnesses and was to determine key issues about the legal relationship between
the postmasters and Post Office Limited.
Emphatic win for the postmaster Claimants
This High Court judgment is an emphatic win for the postmasters.
It is an exceptionally important case, involving serious allegations against the Post Office, a state owned
organisation.
A second trial in the case is continuing at the moment in the High Court. Questions of breach of contract and
compensation will be decided at subsequent trials.
What this means for the Post Office
The judgment binds the Post Office with a raft of important obligations to postmasters. These include good
faith, fair dealing, transparency and cooperation in its dealings with them.
The claimant postmasters’ case is that it has breached its legal duties for many years, by wrongly holding
them responsible for unexplained shortfalls showing on Horizon, resulting in some cases in financial ruin and
criminal convictions.
The judgment also finds that some important aspects of Post Office’s contracts can’t be enforced against
them. These include clauses which Post Office has relied on for years to demand purported debts and
terminate postmaster contracts.
Answers not options...
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BREIFING NOTE TO CLAIMANTS I 15 March 2019 FREETHS
It is now clear Post Office is required to investigate unexplained shortfalls properly. It must treat postmasters
openly and fairly when doing so.
This is a dark day for state owned Post Office Limited.
Post Office’s conduct
The Court has found that there seemed to be a “culture of secrecy and excessive confidentiality generally
within the Post Office, but particularly focussed on Horizon.”
It has made findings about the how Post Office has conducted itself, including that it engaged in “oppressive
behaviour” demanding sums in a way that suggested there was no option but to pay them.
The Judgment also criticises the evidence given by certain Post Office witnesses at trial, including senior
managers.
National Federation of Subpostmasters not independent from Post Office
Part of the Judgment dealt with Post Office's claim that the National Federation of Sub Postmasters (NFSP)
is independent.
The Judgment found that the NFSP is not independent of Post Office. The Court questioned Post Office’s
transparency about it. This confirms what some postmasters have believed for many years. They say this
explains why, when they have turned to the Federation for help when faced with oppressive behaviour by
Post Office, they have been seriously let down.
Reaction to the judgment
Alan Bates, one of the Lead Claimants and representative of Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance (JFSA)
commented:
“This is a major step forward to achieving justice and getting to the truth of the matter.”
“ This judgment is consistent with the incredibly serious miscarriage of justice that we believe has taken
place”
“The judge has found in the claimants’ favour on all the important issues in this trial. This goes to the heart
of the relationship between Post Office and the postmasters. In particular, the Judge has found that Post
Office owes duties of good faith, transparency and fair dealing, which is significant because we maintain that
Post Office has breached those duties for many years.”
“This exposes the dismissive and uncooperative attitude of Post Office, which has damaged the lives of so
many postmasters.”
“Whatever happens from now on, this is the victory we've been fighting for; postmasters have won and Post
Office will never again be able to behave as they have in the past with impunity.”
Reaction from the lawyers
James Hartley, Freeths LLP, acting for the Claimant Group, said:
“This is a substantial and complex case and we shall continue to drive it forward to a final conclusion in the
interests of the claimant group — this case is of profound importance to them. This case also has considerable
importance in terms of the corporate culture being exposed and the business being held accountable for
incredibly serious matters affecting peoples’ lives. As with all the heavy-weight commercial litigation we
handle, strategic and evidential insight are essential to ensure a just outcome based on the true facts.”
Answers not options...