Post Office Horizon scandal victim Seema Misra OBE has slammed the government for paying "£40 million" to extend its contract with Fujitsu to continue using the controversial Horizon IT software.
Speaking with Asian Trader, Misra questioned the government's real motive behind the contract renewal despite Horizon being in the centre of what is considered as Britain's biggest miscarriage of justice.
"The real question here is what does the government get this time to renew the contract with Fujitsu? They must have got something last time. They knew the system was flawed but they still brought the IT system into Post Office last time too.
"So what incentive or how much amount they are being offered this time that they have agreed to renew contract with Fujitsu to continue using Horizon in the Post Office branches?," asked the campaigner, who has recently been named OBE in the New Year honour's list for her unwavering commitment to justice.
At least 700 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were wrongly prosecuted for apparent financial shortfalls which were actually caused by faults in the accounting software Horizon created by Fujitsu.
Accused of stealing £70,000 from her Post Office branch in West Byfleet, Surrey, Misra was sent to jail in 2010. She was eight weeks pregnant at the time. Her conviction was quashed in April 2021.
Last year during a hearing of Post Office Horizon scandal public enquiry, Misra rejected an apology from former Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins, who was pivotal in helping the Post Office defend the faulty computer software system in criminal and civil cases.
At Misra's trial in 2010, he failed to tell the court about a bug in the software that could have undermined the case against her.
Despite the mountain of evidences that, inews revealed last week that the Post Office has renewed its contract with Fujitsu to continue using Horizon until March 2026 at a cost of £40.8 million.
The Post Office previously said it planned to replace Horizon with “new branch technology” but would maintain the old IT software until the new technology is developed.
Seema Misra (L-4) and Vijay Parekh (L-5) receive Ramniklal Solanki Editor’s Award at the 2024 Asian Trader Awards Asian Trader Awards
Responding to Fujitsu’s new contract, Horizon scandal campaigner Christopher Head OBE added, “We understand that in order to transition to a new system you have to maintain the old one until you get to the point that you are satisfied.
"In this circumstance, with the Post Office, you’d be more cautious given what’s happened with the previous system.”
Janet Skinner, aformer subpostmistress from Hull, was handed a nine-month sentence for theft in 2007 after £59,000 appeared to be missing from her Post Office branch.
She served three months of that sentence before being released with an electronic tag but was hospitalised in 2008 with a stress-related illness.
Commenting on the extension of Fujitsu’s contract, Skinner told inews, “It’s an insult. It’s like they are rewarding them for their bad behaviour.
“There needs to be accountability and accountability is not awarding contracts to a company that has been at the forefront of this scandal.
“It just infuriates me. Absolutely infuriates me. God knows what the other postmasters are feeling. It’s just like being kicked in the teeth.”
