13 people feared to have taken their own lives over Horizon Post Office scandal
There was a "real possibility" that 13 people took their own lives because of the Horizon Post Office scandal, a report by the public inquiry has said.
Another 59 victims of the Horizon scandal contemplated suicide with 10 attempting to take their own lives, the report by Sir Wyn Williams said.
The report also said Post Office bosses should have known Horizon was faulty but 'maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate' when prosecuting subpostmasters.
Williams said 'a number of senior' people at the organisation were aware the Horizon system was capable of errors
He said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims following what has been dubbed as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
The scandal was propelled into the spotlight in January last year after ITV's drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, starring actor Toby Jones about Sir Alan Bates, former sub-postmaster and founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance.
Ex-Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells is accused of overseeing a huge number of wrongful prosecutions and convictions.
Approximately 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted throughout the UK between 1999 and 2015 as a result of faulty Fujitsu software, with a significant number contemplating self-harm, the report said.
Williams also singled out the behaviour of Post Office investigators, saying subpostmasters 'will have been in wholly unfamiliar territory and they will have found the experience to be troubling at best and harrowing at worst'.
The publication of the first part of the report on Tuesday focused solely on the devastating impact of the scandal on victims and the compensation offered to subpostmasters, with a further report potentially attributing blame expected at a later date.
Williams said: 'Although many of the individuals who gave evidence before me were very reluctant to accept it, I am satisfied from the evidence that I have heard that a number of senior, and not-so-senior employees of the Post Office knew or, at the very least should have known, that Legacy Horizon was capable of error.
'Yet for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of Legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate.'
Williams made a total of 19 recommendations as part of his report, including that the Government and the Post Office should make a public announcement about what they mean by 'full and fair redress'.
He also said claimants who apply for compensation as part of the main scheme, the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, should be entitled to free legal advice.
The chairman also addressed criticism of another scheme, the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, saying claimants should be entitled to the £600,000 fixed offer even if they submit their own detailed individual claim.
Williams urged the Government to establish a public body to devise, administer and deliver compensation to those wronged by authorities.
The report said the number of people eligible to submit compensation claims as part of the scandal is likely to rise 'by at least hundreds, if not more, over the coming months'.
In a statement, the Post Office said: 'The inquiry has brought to life the devastating stories of those impacted by the Horizon Scandal.
'Their experiences represent a shameful period in our history.
'Today, we apologise unreservedly for the suffering which Post Office caused to postmasters and their loved ones.
'We will carefully consider the report and its recommendations.'
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