At least 13 people will have committed suicide due to the so -called British Post Office scandal, in which nearly 1000 employees were unjustly prosecuted or convicted of criminal offenses due to a defective computer system, the public inquiry revealed.
According to the inquiry “Post Office Horizon It”, which investigated the so -called British Post Office ScandalOne of the biggest judicial errors in British history, at least 13 people will have committed suicide and 59 will have thought of doing so.
Between 1999 and 2015, about 1,000 British chiefs and deputies were unfairly convicted of theftfraud and false accounting, due to errors in the Accounting Software Horizon It, from Fujitsu, which suggested that employees had diverted money of their agencies.
Following the processes raised to employees, some of the workers were prisoners and others were forced to declare bankruptcy and lost their homes. Many of them have suffered health problems, runs in their relationships and were ostracized by their communities.
Another 50 to 60 people were processed but not condemnedwhile Thousands of employees were wrongly held responsible for losses without ever being accused.
The report, presented on Tuesday, was written by Sir Wyn Williamsrenovated judge who presided over the post office since September 2020. The document now presented is only the first volume of several that will examine the “disastrous human impact” of the scandal.
In the first volume of the 162 -page report, Williams calls for immediate action to ensure a “total and fair” compensation of the victims.
According to the report, about 10,000 people So far they have entered into legal actions with claims for compensation, and this number is expected to increase. According to the United Kingdom government, more than 1.12 billion euros They had been paid to more than 7,300 post office operators until June this year.
In addition to the 13 suicides that the report directly attributes to the repercussions of the case, 59 people who had suicidal thoughts were identified, of which 10 will have even tried suicide, some of which on multiple occasions.
“I can’t think of any other public inquiry where so many people died while waiting for justice“, Says the retired judge, quoted by.
The report states that the Post Office Leadership team should have known that the Fujitson Horizon it was defective, but “maintained fiction that your data was always accurate. ”
The system was provided by the Japanese technology company Fujitsuwho expressed his “deeper excuses”For the role of its devices and software played in the scandal. By the time the case became public, the fujitsu bag value had a Fall of 890 million euros.
For affected postmakers, the impact of the scandal on their lives has been immeasurable. “Mental stress was so great For me I had a mental collapse and I turned to the alcohol while sinking more in depression“Says a post -chief of Posto quoted by Technology Magazine.
