Fujitsu 'knew of tech problem as prosecutors targeted postal staff'

FUJITSU technicians knew about problems with the Horizon IT system from at least 2010 while sub-postmasters were being wrongly prosecuted for stealing money from the Post Office, the public inquiry heard today.

- Rachael Burford & Tristan Kirk

The scandal saw more than 700 handed criminal convictions after Fujitsu's faulty software made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Internal records from the tech firm which created Horizon reveal discussions about "duplicate transactions" within the troubled system, efforts being made to fix problems, and fears that the issues - if revealed - could lead to a "legal challenge".

One of the documents from June 2010 referred to "occasional duplicate transactions listed on spreadsheets produced and presented to court for prosecution case and ised the concern that they may be "spotted" by defence lawyers representing accused sub-postmasters and used to "question the evidence".