04 January 2024 , 19:00
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Whistleblower Richard Roll played a key role in the case the falsely accused sub-postmasters brought against the Post Office - here we explain who he was.
Viewers of ITV ’s hit drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office were appalled at the treatment of the hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly accused of fraudulent financial activities and in one episode they saw the company behind the faulty IT system changing figures remotely.
In 1999 a new centralised computer programme, Horizon, was introduced by the Post Office to replace traditional paper accounting and it was supplied by Japanese company Fujitsu. It was installed at around 14,000 branches but problems quickly arose and shortfalls in accounting suddenly started to occur, with the finger of blame being pointed at the sub-postmasters.
The sub-postmasters outside the Royal Courts of JusticeThe new four-part ITV series is based on the story and features one of the sub-postmasters, Alan Bates, who led the campaign for justice after he and hundreds of his colleagues were accused of theft and fraud over the faulty system.
Viewers saw how staff at Fujitsu could remotely alter financial figures entered by the sub-postmasters without their knowledge. In the drama, Michael Rudkin, a former executive officer from the National Federation of sub-postmasters, raises the concern and reveals how he visited the Fujitsu HQ in Bracknell.
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While there to deal with a problem sub-postmasters were encountering at the time with the system he says he was shown how to manually fix the issue by the covert operations team, recalling how he was shocked by the remote access.
"Excuse me?" he says in the episode. "I've been telling my members for years no one else has access to their branch accounts."
After airing the worrying issue Rudkin, played by Shaun Dooley, and his wife went on to be wrongly convicted over apparent losses at their branch.
Richard Roll was a former Fujitsu engineer who was part of a team of 30 employees who had access to Horizon terminals remotely. He worked at the Post Office between 2001 and 2004 and became a whistleblower on the company.
In the fourth and final part of the ITV drama, viewers see Mr Bates and the other accused sub-postmasters at the Royal Courts of Justice where they will give evidence in the case, claiming that they were able to access the sub-postmasters' systems without their knowledge and make changes that were untraceable.
Everything hinges on whether nervous whistleblower Roll will take the stand and explain what went on at Fujitsu behind the scenes.
Out of a total of 736 employees wrongly accused over 230 were jailed, including a pregnant woman, four committed suicide, 33 died, others were declared bankrupt while many saw their personal lives fall apart as they endured public humiliation.
Mr Bates continues in his fight for justice to this day for the victims of the scandal and is imploring the Government to fast-track the legal process for compensation.
* Mr Bates vs The Post Office continues tonight at 9pm on ITV.
What do you think of the Post Office Horizon scandal? Let us know below.
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