London: Britain’s biggest-ever Post Office scandal has come crashing into the spotlight — exposing how over 900 innocent workers were wrongly accused of theft due to a glitchy computer system.
Known as the Horizon Scandal, it all traces back to a faulty software built by Japanese firm Fujitsu. Since 1999, the system falsely showed massive cash shortfalls — and instead of fixing the bug, the Post Office punished its own staff.
Postmasters who raised concerns were fired, jailed, or publicly shamed. 236 were sent to prison. Several victims took their own lives.
A government inquiry launched in 2021 confirmed the horrifying truth: both the Post Office and Fujitsu knew the system was broken — but covered it up and blamed the innocent.
The UK government has pledged over £1 billion in compensation, with many convictions overturned and more under review.
Former CEO Paula Vennells, seen as the scandal’s key figure, is facing public outrage.
The hit TV drama Mr. Bates vs The Post Office turned up the heat, making the case globally known and pushing the government to act faster.