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Witness Name: Richard Sloggett
Statement No.: WITN06790100
Dated: 18 May 2023
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WITNESS STATEMENT OF RICHARD SLOGGETT
I, Richard Sloggett, will say as follows:-
INTRODUCTION
1. 1am a former employee of ICL Pathway. I do not recall my job title but it is my
recollection that my role was that of a System Analyst.
2. This witness statement is made to assist the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (the
“Inquiry”) with the matters set out in the Rule 9 Request dated 20" March 2023
(the “Request’).
BACKGROUND
3. I have been asked to set out my professional background, my role in relation to
the Horizon IT project.
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. In respect of my professional background, I can confirm I worked for ICL
Pathway until May or June 1997, having previously worked for Post Office
Counters as a System Analyst on the POCL ALPS automation pilot amongst
other projects.
. Ido not have a detailed recollection of my work in ICL Pathway. I was there for
a relatively short period of time in the early stages of the project.
. I believe I was working with the Escher Riposte solution, documenting the
Riposte EPOSS system components and working with Graeme Seedall of
POCL and others to understand how it might be used to address the project
requirements.
. My recollection was that Escher were responsible for actual development of the
Riposte EPOSS solution.
. I have no recollection of the PinICL or PEAK systems mentioned in the
information request.
. I have been asked to explain my reasons for leaving ICL Pathway and what I
understand by “Richard Sloggett disappeared, possibly because the design
was leading Pathway down a blind alley, as he appeared to be trying to work
outside the core of the Riposte product.”
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10.1 can confirm that I left ICL Pathway as I no longer felt that I had an opportunity
to contribute in any real sense to the success of the project; my recollection is
of an Escher Riposte solution that was immutable and it was evident that this
was a situation that was outside of my ability to influence and would not change.
1
.I have been asked to consider document EPOSS Component Catalogue V 2.0
dated 12/12/1997 (FUJ00079218). This document carries my name, but has a
date some 6 months after I left ICL Pathway. I believe this document merely
described the Escher EPOSS solution components and was therefore not a
design specification document but was actually documentation of an existing
provided solution that was (to my recollection) designed and developed by
Escher with fixed capabilities.
12.1 have been asked to consider document EPOSS Logical Odject Model V 2.0
dated 24/11/1996 (FUJ00079213). My recollection of this document is it was
the result of a set of workshops attempting to describe the elements of the
POCL stock unit and branch balancing process and the constituent records and
events. The information in this document was based (I believe) largely on the
solution from the previous ALPS POCL automation project and current POCL
accounting practices. I believe this document pre-dates the Escher Ripsote
EPOSS solution and the technical implementation that solution delivered.
13.1 have been asked to confirm if I have, or were you aware of, any concerns
regarding the robustness of the Horizon IT system during your time working for
ICL Pathway.
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14.1 can confirm a recollection that at the point in time I was involved with the
project the Escher Riposte solution did not directly address key elements of the
POCL stock unit and balance based accounting system; based as it was ona
distributed transaction log. I recall a strong faith from management in the
Escher technology and a negative reaction to questions or challenges around
its capability or suitability to address the POCL requirements.
15.1 believe my involvement was at the early stages of the project.
Statement of Truth
I believe the content of this statement to be true.
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Index to First Witness Statement of Richard Sloggett
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No. I URN Document Description Control Number
1 FUJ00079218 I EPOSS Component Catalogue V 2.0 I POINQ0085389F
dated 12/12/1997
2 FUJ00079213 I EPOSS Logical Object Model V2.0 I POINQ0085384F
dated 24/11/1996
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