18 January 2024 , 16:20
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A Fujitsu manager labelled a subpostmaster as a "nasty chap" who was "all out to rubbish" the tech company's name ahead of his court case.
Peter Sewell, who was part of the Post Office Account Security Team at Fujitsu, made the remarks about subpostmaster Lee Castleton in a 2006 email which was shown to the official public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.
Mr Castleton, who was played by Will Mellor in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, was left bankrupt after losing his court fight against the Post Office over a £25,000 shortfall at his branch. The shortfall had actually been caused by Fujitsu's faulty Horizon system which made it appear as though money was missing from his outlet.
In an email exchange dated December 2006 ahead of Mr Castleton's legal proceedings, Mr Sewell described Fetters Lane, the road the court was situated on, as a place "they used to hang people out to dry". He appeared to be giving words of encouragement to his colleague IT security analyst Andrew Dunks ahead of a hearing in court.
"It's up to you to maintain absolute strength and integrity no matter what the prosecution throw at you," Mr Sewell told him . "We will all be behind you hoping you come through unscathed. Bless you." Mr Dunks replied: "Thank you for those very kind and encouraging words. I had to pause halfway through reading it to wipe away a small tear..."
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Mr Sewell told the inquiry he couldn't remember writing the email and he didn't know why it was written. Pressed by the inquiry lawyers on whether "it would be unfair to describe you as somebody who saw protecting Fujitsu as important", he admitted: "We all protect our own companies, yes."
After hearing the evidence, Mr Castleton told the BBC: "They set out to ruin me, which they did, and it was groupthink - it wasn't just one person. It was a group of people and it's a case of 'sorry, not sorry' isn't it?"
Asked if he had a message for Mr Sewell, he said: "I hope you have as many sleepless nights as I have."
Meanwhile Fujitsu said it will stop bidding for Government contracts while the inquiry into the Post Office scandal is ongoing. The Japanese giant wrote to ministers on Thursday to say it is "voluntarily" choosing not to bid for Government contracts, unless asked, while the inquiry is ongoing.
L abour MP Kate Osborne, who has campaigned on the issue, told the Mirror: “I’m pleased that Fujitsu has said this but I don’t think they’ve suddenly found their morals. I think what’s happened is there’s been massive reputational damage to them because of this scandal." She also called for "a full review of the existing contracts that they’ve got because I don’t think anybody has any trust in them”.
The Jarrow MP’s constituent Christopher Head, who had been Britain’s youngest postmaster, was driven out of business after he was wrongly blamed for an £88,000 shortfall. "Chris and the rest of the subpostmasters have seen Fujitsu win contract after contract whilst this has been going on and they must be furious about it," she said.
"They’re making millions or billions of pounds and the senior people are awarding themselves bonuses while they’re still fighting many years later for any kind of recompense or compensation for the ordeal they’ve all been put through. The fact they’re still fighting for what they believe the correct level of compensation is is disgraceful."