Post Office found 123 bugs in Capture system but still prosecuted sub-postmasters

The Post Office identified more than 100 bugs with a piece of software linked to claims of a second IT scandal, but prosecuted sub-postmasters anyway, new documents reveal.

At least 36 former sub-postmasters or their families have now come forward to claim they suffered unexplained accounting problems while using the Capture IT system, which was developed in-house by the Post Office and rolled out to branches in the 1990s.

Sub-postmasters say it was prone to bugs and glitches that would lead to shortfalls in their weekly balance, but in an apparent precursor to the Horizon scandal, they say they were forced to hand over money, dismissed, and in some cases criminally prosecuted.

The Government is currently considering how to remedy sub-postmasters convictions and financial losses under the Capture system, in what has been described as a “second scandal”, by Labour MP Kevan Jones.

New Post Office documents from 1997, seen by i, suggest IT bosses had identified at least 123 bugs and glitches with the software at the time of its use, as a number of cases were being brought against sub-postmasters over financial losses.

Documents shared with Mr Jones’ office relate to an upgrade to version C70 of the Capture software carried out by the Post Office in January 1997.

In a letter sent to sub-postmasters at the time, the Post Office ‘Capture team’ wrote: “The Capture C70 release was developed to include a number of enhancements and fault fixes felt by many long overdue, as previous attempts to introduce these in Capture II failed.”

The new software included a 24-page set of notes on how sub-postmasters should perform the upgrade but also included the warning: “Although a number of software faults have been fixed, it is unlikely that every fault has been banished from the Capture program, and as with the development of any new software application, new releases are liable to introduce their own problems.”

“With each upgrade of the software, the number of bugs seemed to have grown,” Mr Jones told the House of Commons on Monday night.

“According to analysis that’s been done on the upgrades, the Post Office identified at least 123 bugs within the Capture software.”

On the final page of the notes, three specific faults that the Post Office is “already aware of” were identified and given a reference number.

Having seen the documents, Patrick Sedgwick, a former IT expert at the Post Office, told i he believes this reference is made up of two parts, one indicating the date it was discovered, and the other being the ‘serial number’ of each fault identified.

The fault with the highest number is 9611230123 and Mr Sedgwick therefore suggests that it was identified on 23 November 1996 and is fault number 123.

He told i: “It’s clear from the release notes that the Post Office is trying to strike a helpful tone.

“But similarly, they are fully cognisant, and indicate it to be the case, that Capture had bugs.”

The Post Office wrote to sub-postmasters advising them of faults to its Capture software in January 1997 (Photo: Supplied)

Mr Jones, MP for North Durham, would like to see those with criminal convictions linked to Capture exonerated by the legislation which has been put forward to overturn around 800 Horizon prosecutions.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has resisted those calls to date, arguing that the Government needs to see a “body of evidence” before agreeing to expand what is already an unprecedented use of parliamentary power.

Campaigners are now in a race against time to see if enough evidence can be produced so that the Horizon bill can be amended.

The Government has agreed to appoint an independent expert to examine a set of 30-year-old floppy disks which contain original copies of the Capture software. It is understood it is hoped the findings will be reported back within weeks.

i understands the expert will be set clear terms of reference to determine firstly whether it was prone to faults, and secondly if those faults could have led to a sub-postmaster being wrongfully accused of having a shortfall in their cash accounts.

i revealed earlier this month how sub-postmasters already believe they have been able to demonstrate how Capture could could cause money to go missing during an upgrade.

Steve Marston, 68, who was convicted of theft and false accounting offences in 1998 believes it is “definitive proof” that his conviction was unsafe.

The Capture software was rolled out to Post Office branches starting in 1992 (Photo: Supplied)

Mr Jones believes there is still time for Capture cases to be included before the Horizon bill becomes law, which is expected to happen before the summer recess begins on 24 July.

“We are moving at pace,” he said.

“Mr Hollinrake has assured me he wants this dealt with quickly.

“If we can get the evidence before [the bill] is in the Lords, they might be able to be included in the legislation.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “As soon as these accusations came to light, we asked the Post Office to investigate the Capture system.

“Minister Hollinrake confirmed in Parliament that we have agreed to instigate an independent review of the Capture software.”

The Post Office declined to offer further comment on the latest claims about Capture.

A spokesperson said previously: “We take very seriously any concerns raised about cases from before the Horizon system was first rolled out in 1999.

“Our current understanding is that Capture does not appear to have been ‘networked’, but the software was used by some Postmasters, alongside manual processes, for simplifying accounts before they were manually submitted.

“We are particularly concerned about allegations of prosecutions, and we are looking into this along with all available facts about Capture, including whether shortfalls could have been caused by faults in this software, and the potential impacts if so.

“Given the passage of time, around 30 years ago, and changes to data storage systems since the split from Royal Mail, we do not yet have a complete picture of Capture but are looking into the issue given the concerns raised.”