A Post Office investigator has denied that he and his colleagues “behaved like mafia gangsters” seeking “a reward with the threats and lies” of sub-postmasters.
Stephen Bradshaw, a veteran post office worker, has been accused of bullying branch managers while investigating allegations of missing money in accounts.
The criminal cases were based on evidence from the faulty Horizon IT system and led to one of Britain’s worst ever miscarriages of justice.
At a public inquiry into the scandal on Thursday, Mr Bradshaw insisted his investigations had been “professional” and claimed problems with Horizon had never been passed on to investigators like him.
Mr Bradshaw was involved in the criminal investigation into nine subpostmasters, including Lisa Brennan, a former counter clerk at a post office in Huyton, near Liverpool, who was falsely accused of stealing £3,000 in 2003.
Mr Bradshaw has also been accused by fellow Merseyside Sub-Postmistress Rita Threlfall of asking her about the color of her eyes and what jewelery she was wearing before saying: “Right, so we have a description of you for when they come” , during her interview. under caution in August 2010.
Another sub-postmistress, Jacqueline McDonald, claimed she was “bullied” by Mr Bradshaw during an investigation into her alleged £50,000 deficit.
Responding to Ms McDonald’s claims in his statement, the witness said: ‘I refute the claim that I am a liar.
“I also refute the claim that Jacqueline McDonald was bullied, from the moment we arrived the inspector was already on site, discussions were initially held with Mr McDonald, the reason for our presence was explained, the kept Mr and Mrs McDonald informed as the day progressed.”
The investigator added: “Ms. Jacqueline McDonald is also wrong when she states that Post Office investigators behaved like mafia gangsters who wanted to collect their bounty with the threats and lies.”
Telling Ms Brennan to “get up earlier” in an interview, Mr Bradshaw said: ‘I apologize if you don’t like that kind of terminology, it wasn’t meant to be harmful to her. “
The inquiry’s counsel, Julian Blake, highlighted an interview with Ms McDonald when Mr Bradshaw accused her of “telling a load of lies”.
He compared the language to a 1970s “television detective show”, but Bradshaw defended his behavior and said the interview was not meant to be “nice”.
He added that Ms McDonald’s legal team had not alleged during the trial that the interview was “oppressive or aggressive”.
Mr Bradshaw, an employee at the Post Office since 1978, described himself as not being “technically minded” and insisted he had “not been made aware” of problems with the Horizon IT system.
He also emphasized that there were “no concerns” about the quality of his investigations.
“It seems like we didn’t get any knowledge from above about bugs and defects,” he said. “It didn’t come from Fujitsu, the post office board, to our level as research manager.
“I had no reason to suspect anything was wrong with the Horizon system at the time because we had not been told.”
Mr Bradshaw was shown an email he sent to a colleague in 2010 with links to early reporting on the scandal, but he insisted: “I have not been told about any problem with the Horizon system.”
In his witness statement, Mr Bradshaw said for each of the nine criminal investigations he was involved in: “There were no concerns, the investigation was conducted in a professional manner at all times.”
Mr Bradshaw was warned before his evidence began that he has the right not to incriminate himself when answering questions.
He told the inquiry he now “regrets” signing witness statements for criminal proceedings which were actually prepared by lawyers and which emphasized there were no problems with the Horizon system.
He joined the research team in 2000 and has been with the Post Office for 45 years.
Investigators from the former post office told the inquiry that bonuses were offered for successful prosecutions and for seizing money from sub-postmasters.
Mr Bradshaw told the hearing he received bonuses but denied they were related to the number of cases he handled.
In a 2010 self-assessment, he told his bosses that he personally intervened in Ms. McDonald’s criminal case when the integrity of the Horizon system was questioned.
“I challenged the lawyer’s recommendation and convinced him that a trial would be necessary because the reason given by the defendant (Horizon integrity) would have a broader impact on the company if a trial did not proceed.” He wrote.
Today, Mr Bradshaw characterized the self-assessment as a “flamboyant way of explaining what happened that day”.
“As far as I can remember, Horizon was not proven to be that flawed at the time,” he said. “I wouldn’t write it like that now, but it’s a self-assessment of the way a company wanted to do it.”
Bradshaw’s criticism comes a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced new legislation aimed at exonerating post office managers convicted in the Horizon IT scandal.
He told the House of Commons: “This is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in the history of our country,” and pledged £1 billion in payouts to affected sub-postmasters and their families.
The Government has already paid out around £138m to more than 2,700 claimants from three Post Office compensation schemes.
“The lives and reputations of people who worked hard to serve their communities were destroyed absolutely through no fault of their own,” Mr Sunak said. “The victims must receive justice and compensation.”
In 2019, a High Court judge ruled that the Horizon IT system contained “bugs, errors and defects” and that there was a “material risk” of shortages in the Post Office’s accounts being caused by the system.
The Public Inquiry, led by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, was first established in September 2020 and held hearings in 2022 into the human impact on sub-postmasters investigated and prosecuted by the Post Office. But public and media interest in the scandal has been heightened by the ITV drama Mr Bates v The Post Office.
Attorney General Alex Chalk admitted Thursday morning that the scandal will cost taxpayers “a fortune” and said that if Fujitsu, which designed the Horizon system, is found guilty in the investigation, the company will “face the consequences.” .
Employees and former employees of Fujitsu will give evidence in the investigation next week.