- Tuesday, May 14, 2024
The inquiry revealed that Singh was copied into an email detailing issues with the Horizon system just before the trial of Seema Misra
By: Pramod Thomas
FORMER senior Post Office lawyer Jarnail Singh is under scrutiny in the Horizon IT inquiry for his alleged concealment of crucial information regarding bugs in the Horizon system.
Singh, however, denied any knowledge of the bugs despite evidence suggesting otherwise.
The inquiry revealed that Singh was copied into an email detailing issues with the Horizon system just before the trial of Seema Misra, a sub-postmistress who was wrongfully convicted of false accounting and theft.
Despite this, Singh claimd he never saw the email, even though evidence indicated he saved it to his hard drive and took a print out.
Rob Wilson, then head of the Post Office’s criminal law team, on October 8, 2010, sent an email notifying the Post Office of multiple instances where funds went missing at the branch level and incorrect balances were displayed in the Horizon system.
Jason Beer, counsel for the inquiry, accused Singh of a “big fat lie” for his denial of receiving and reading the email. Beer presented evidence showing that Singh had saved and printed the document shortly after receiving it, contradicting Singh’s claims of ignorance.
Singh maintained his denial, asserting that he lacked the technical knowledge to understand the document or how to save it. However, Beer argued that Singh’s actions amounted to a cover-up and a failure to disclose crucial information that could have prevented wrongful prosecutions.
The inquiry also revealed Singh’s involvement in other cases, such as that of Jo Hamilton, a former sub-postmistress whose conviction for false accounting was overturned in 2021. Singh was accused of withholding evidence that could have prevented Hamilton’s prosecution.
Throughout the proceedings, Misra expressed her disbelief in Singh’s testimony, highlighting the suffering endured by those wrongfully prosecuted by the Post Office, reported Sky News.
Singh admitted that mistakes were made in the prosecution of Misra and expressed regret for the damage caused. However, he denied any deliberate cover-up and stressed his commitment to assisting the inquiry.
“I’m ever so sorry Misra had suffered and I am ever so embarrassed to be here, that we made those mistakes and put somebody’s liberty at stake and the loss she suffered and the damage caused which was not what this was about,” he was quoted as saying.
Singh joined the Post Office as a legal executive in 1989 in the conveyancing department. He passed his Law Society finals whilst working at the Post Office and was admitted as a lawyer in December 1992. In September 1993 Singh transferred to the Post Office’s litigation department, working first on civil litigation. He became a Post Office senior criminal lawyer in 1995, when he transferred to the Prosecutions Department.
There were more than 700 convictions in total linked to the scandal, dating back from 1995 to 2015.
The ongoing Post Office inquiry seeks to uncover the truth behind the Post Office’s actions and address the injustices suffered by those affected by the scandal.
