During the latest hearing of the Post Office scandal public inquiry, a former senior Fujitsu engineer revealed that he was pressured into giving misleading evidence by the Post Office during the prosecution of subpostmasters accused of theft and fraud. Gareth Jenkins, a once distinguished engineer at Fujitsu, stated that he was “trapped” into providing inaccurate information that led to wrongful convictions of subpostmasters.
Despite his insistence that his role was to tell the truth and answer questions truthfully, Jenkins was accused by Flora Page, a barrister representing victims of the scandal, of being a “Fujitsu company man” who was protecting the Horizon system created by Fujitsu for the Post Office. Jenkins denied these accusations and maintained that he was simply answering the questions he was asked.
Jenkins expressed regret for the role he played in cases like that of Seema Misra, a former subpostmistress who was wrongly convicted based on his evidence. Misra’s wrongful conviction was eventually overturned in 2021 after a long campaign by subpostmasters to prove the unreliability of the Horizon system. Jenkins admitted that he felt pressured to support the Post Office’s prosecutions and ultimately resigned from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, after his involvement in the scandal was brought to light.
Despite the scrutiny surrounding his involvement, Jenkins was described as helpful and forthcoming during investigations into the Horizon system by Ian Henderson, director at forensic accountancy firm Second Sight. Henderson praised Jenkins for his transparency and willingness to assist with inquiries.
The Post Office scandal, first brought to light by Computer Weekly in 2009, exposed the injustices faced by subpostmasters like Alan Bates due to issues with accounting software. The scandal is considered one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.