The police investigation is running out of money, the Public Inquiry report is delayed and many sub-postmasters have died without receiving a penny of compensation. Rosie Brocklehurst reports.

Between 2000 and 2017 the Post Office initiated prosecutions against 900 sub-postmasters (SPMs) and  736 of these were wrongly convicted of false accounting and/or theft. But  a total of 3,500 SPMs faced a combination of civil claims and termination of contracts, resulting in them losing the post offices they ran and their livelihoods. It has been called the largest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

The police investigation, Operation Olympos, begun in January 2020 to look into the conduct of the Post Office Ltd (POL) and Fujitsu Services who developed and installed Horizon software,  is aiming to submit its recommendations for charging decisions in late 2027 or early 2028. They are examining 8 million documents brought to light during the Inquiry. However, senior officers have warned that without proper funding the timeline could slip back to as much as five years.  

The estimated funding needed for 2026/7 is £19.3 million and Commander Stephen Clayman, leading the investigation, aims to almost double his team from 111 to 210.  So far, 13 persons of interest out of 53 have been interviewed under caution, which in terms of value for money seems remarkably low.  

The Public Inquiry into the scandal became statutory in 2021 under the Chair of Sir Wyn Williams and ended in December 2024 when Sir Wyn went away to write his report, which included recommendations on compensation processes and delivery. It was completed and published in 2025 but the final report is yet to be delivered, and will include reference to persons deemed of interest for the purpose of Police investigation.

This report has been delayed twice, and may not now be published until early 2027. Meanwhile, in early 2024, data obtained by the Times under Freedom of Information revealed that 263 SPMs had died since being wrongly convicted. Many of them died without receiving compensation. More have died since. In his first report last year, Sir Wyn Williams said at least 13 people may have killed themselves as a result of the scandal and 59 more had contemplated suicide.

Some victims have felt forced by time and financial circumstance to accept compensation far below their actual losses. Fujitsu, while having made loud noises about being morally obligated to contribute to compensation has so far paid not even £1 towards anything or any one, yet have continued to receive money from Government for contracts they are to fulfil.

Children of sub-postmasters were also victims. A group of them formed their own Lost Chances charity with the strapline “You Can’t Hurt a Parent without Harming  a Child” in 2025 and worked with the Post Office Minister to get financial redress for specific support needs. This redress scheme is now open to applicants. Meanwhile no one responsible for the scandal either within the Post Office, in Fujitsu or UK Government Shareholder Executive has been charged. 

Nick Wallis, one of a few notable journalists who has done so much to bring the scandal to light, has almost completed his second book called The Great Post Office Cover-Up. Wallis says he can’t publish until after Sir Wyn Williams delivers the five volumes that are expected to comprise his final report now due at the end of the year or beginning of 2027. However, in an event in Shoreham, Sussex, in July, Wallis presented his rogues’ gallery of POL people who allegedly covered-up what they knew back in 2013, including those who held back documents from disclosure and provided false evidence in court during prosecutions. 

It was during the summer of 2013 when a barrister called Simon Clarke, gave the Post office Board advice that some of the prosecutions they had undertaken were unsafe,  yet POL not only carried on with prosecutions, they continued to defend themselves against Sir Alan Bates’ Group Litigation in 2019, and also tried to recuse the Judge in that case, Sir Peter Fraser. They also ensured that crucial disclosure of information did not take place.

Among these persons of interest who are alleged to have known much more about the unsafe prosecutions than they have admitted and acted to cover up their knowledge are Paula Vennells CEO of the Post Office and Chair of the Post Office Alice Perkins. There are also persons of interest among some well-paid external solicitors and lawyers who gave advice to the Post Office Board in 2013 and later on, as well as individuals who sat on the Board, from the Shareholder Executive within Government – UK Government Investments  based within the Treasury. 

As for Paula Vennells, many SPMs and Inquiry lawyers believe her greatest skill lies in self-delusion. At the Inquiry, her denials of any knowledge or understanding were multiple and any investigation into the cover-up must begin with her. The former CEO’s fall-back position when denial did not work was shown during the Inquiry by how often she failed to recall anything illuminating at all. The devastating acuity and precision of the interrogation of Vennells on the emails that caught her out in clear fabrications, by Tim Maloney KC, legal representative of many of the SPMs at the Inquiry is one of the most revealing of all the sessions and can be found here truncated on X, or in full here, with Jason Beer KC’s earlier questioning can be found  here.

Nick Wallis’s The Great Post Office Cover-Up can be ordered in advance here.

Rosie Brocklehurst is a journalist and press officer (retired) who worked for the Labour Party, LWT, the BBC and several charities.

Main image: Wallasey Post Office. Author: Rodhullandemu, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.