Computer expert said victim of Horizon was 'jumping on the bandwagon'

A computer expert who gave evidence against a pregnant sub-postmistress claimed she had 'decided to jump on the bandwagon' and blame financial losses on the Post Office's Horizon system, it was revealed on Thursday.

Emails showed Gareth Jenkins said Seema Misra had 'falsified the accounts' at her Post Office branch and then attempted to put the blame on the Horizon accounting software, after she read reports that the system was flawed.

The former Fujitsu engineer, who helped to develop Horizon, faced questions over the email as he gave evidence to the public inquiry into the IT scandal at the Post Office, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters falsely accused of theft, including Mrs Misra.

He wrote: 'When she went to court, she saw an article in Computer Weekly indicating that Horizon was unreliable and decided to jump on the bandwagon.... I don't see how anything here changes the fact that she falsified the accounts or that money was missing.'

Pictured: Former sub-postmistress Seema Misra, who was wrongly imprisoned in the Post Office scandal

Emails showed Gareth Jenkins (pictured) said Seema Misra had 'falsified the accounts' at her Post Office branch

Mr Jenkins, now 72, told the inquiry: 'That's totally inappropriate wording on my part for which I apologise.'

He was shown a second email about a separate case in a different Post Office branch, in which he wrote: 'This is another example of postmasters trying to get away with 'Horizon has taken my money'.'

He apologised again and said his words were 'a crude summarisation' of a longer email trail.

Mr Jenkins was an 'expert witness' in the 2010 trial of Mrs Misra, who was wrongly convicted of stealing £70,000 from her Post Office branch in West Byfleet, Surrey.

She served four-and-a-half months of a 15-month sentence while pregnant with her second child and her conviction was only overturned in 2021, after questions were finally raised about the Horizon accounting software.

Mr Jenkins said the Post Office's management of Mrs Misra's case was 'fairly chaotic', and that he had felt under pressure to say Horizon's functioning was 'perfect'.

Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry, questioned why he had not told her crown court trial about software bugs in the Horizon system that had created discrepancies in accounts and inaccurate trading statements.

Mr Jenkins said he had believed the bugs only affected the online version of Horizon operating in 2010, and not previous versions which had been in use at the time of Mrs Misra's alleged offences, in 2006 and 2007.

He told the inquiry he had thought the earlier version of Horizon was 'stable', so had not revealed the bugs, adding: 'It was totally irrelevant. It was a totally separate system.'

Mr Jenkins said he had not believed there were 'any problems' with Horizon that were causing the kind of shortfalls which affected Mrs Misra's Post Office branch.

Mr Jenkins said the Post Office's management of Mrs Misra's case was 'fairly chaotic', and that he had felt under pressure to say Horizon's functioning was 'perfect' (stock photo)

Earlier this week he apologised for the suffering she and hundreds of other sub-postmasters had experienced, and said he was 'truly sorry'.

The retired software engineer was questioned about another email from 2010 in which he commented on a colleague's report into a Horizon issue, and said it was 'potentially highly political', adding: 'We don't really want to be seen to be undermining a Post Office prosecution!'

He said he had used 'political' to mean it related to Fujitsu's relationship with the Post Office.

Mr Beer questioned if his evidence in Mrs Misra's case had been affected by a desire not to undermine the Post Office.

Mr Jenkins said: 'No, I did the analysis conscientiously all the way throughout.'

Previous witnesses to the inquiry have claimed Mr Jenkins' failure to disclose knowledge of bugs in the Horizon system may have amounted to perjury.

He is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of perjury and perverting the course of justice, but has not been charged with any offence.

The inquiry continues.

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