The dreadful scandal of the Sub-Post-office Workers is in the news every time and so it should be. They were accused of stealing when all along the computers were at fault. Listening to some of those workers who were pressurised into accepting a guilty charge, because they couldn't see a way out of the situation, you could cry. So it set Dh and I talking about computers and our own experiences of them last evening.
Dh's job was writing computer programs for a re-cycling firm. If you've ever seen one of the TV programmes of what happens in a food production factory, every part of the action of the machines is a computer code.
When I was teaching, when computers were first introduced in schools, part of the children's' learning was to write a simple computer program. First they wrote out a word flow chart along the lines of 'yes' or 'no' questions.
Eg:How to make a cup of tea
1. Fill kettle with water.
2. Is there water in the kettle?
3. Yes... go on
4.No.... go back
5. Switch on kettle
6. Is it switched on?
7. yes... go on
8.No... go back
And it continued like this.. until you've made the cup of tea....then the child wrote it out into the computer with a series of codes.. They worked in twos and threes to consult with each other, writing out the 'soft ware.'
Simple? BUT.. They only had to get one full stop, comma, forward slash, bracket... wrong and it didn't work and that was just a very simple program.
The programs that firms have are very complicated, so lots can go wrong. Dh had many late nights, and even spent hours on the phone for firms abroad, where their machines were going wrong where they had introduced an extra 'line' into the computer.
People who haven't had a lot of experience with computers don't think they can be wrong.
Fujitsu is the firm who had erroneously registered cash shortfalls leading to hundreds of convictions of theft, fraud and false accounting from 2000 to 2014.
I hope our Government will sack Fujitsu and if they don't. I think the people will demand it. The woman who was CEO of the Post Office at this time Paula Vennells has already been dammed and she has returned her CBE. I think she should returned some of the millions she was given too!
I don't care what the Post Offices bosses say, then or now, they knew something wasn't right.
All those lives ruined, some killed themselves, other were broken they lost their homes and businesses.
There are 11,635 sub post offices and about 1000, people were accused of these fictitious crimes.. are there more out there too afraid to come forward and who just made up the shortfalls who weren't guilty of anything?
What do you think about it all?
Chrisxx
7 comments:
It's an absolute disgrace. Sacking Fujitsu won't help because there are no other companies to take over - all our big computer businesses are gone now, along with all our other industries.
Those poor souls so dreadfully treated deserve huge compensation, but you may be sure that such recompense will come out of our taxes, one way or another.
As you have asked. A shocking miscarriage of justice. It illustrates just how deep the corruption of government ministers has become. This was brought up in Parliament ten years ago and was swept under the carpet. One man stood up and fought for the recognition of those who were wrongly accused and convicted. His concerns were pushed aside by those who were afraid that they might be implicated and lose their jobs. It has taken a TV documentary to get it out in the open. I hope this sets a precedent for more truths to be aired on the tellybox.
It's absolutely shocking and makes me very angry. 'Little' people just count for nothing in this modern world of ours. It's awful. xx
I heard about this story years ago and felt so bad for the people then, so many have gone to their graves with their names tarnished. It's sad when it takes a televised drama to bring this to the proper attention that it should have had a long, long time ago.
In my company and my husbands job, correct computer programming and careful proof reading can literally mean life and death, it takes just one wrong move and one button pressed to have catastrophic consequences. I do not always trust computers and it takes many checks, by many people for things to be passed.
It's horrifying. Part of the reason my husband decided to retire from accountancy was the (enforced) reliance on computing software to produce accounts. Having lots of experience, he could pick up when something wasn't right, even when the computer insisted it was, but younger colleagues could not make the same distinction. Even when he pointed it out to them, they just didn't get how it could be wrong when the computer didn't pick up a problem! Whenever he pointed out a problem with the software manufacturers it was always due to 'teething problems' or 'minor glitches' and was 'would soon be sorted out...
It's absolutely disgraceful, the worst micarriage of justice ever.
I have been involved in IT for many years, and have seen many examples of how badly computer systems can be implemented. With the PO Horizon system, from what I have read the cash discrepancy issues must have been evident during systems testing, and the failure to highlight and address them probably has it's roots in the prevailing culture of the organisation - it would be a seriously career threatening move to be a whistleblower to a management with a reputation to defend, and a supplier angling for more business from the same customer. I also had some brief exposure to Fujitsu in relation to their involvement in NHS IT, and I personally wouldn't give them the time of day, let alone pay them money for systems.
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