Post office horizon’s dark secrets exposed as whistleblower claims tech was ‘flawed from the start’

The Post Office Horizon system, hailed as a solution to streamline operations, is under intense scrutiny as an IT chief, Naomi Walker, reveals it was “flawed from the start.”

Naomi Walker, 50, who served as an IT training manager instructing hundreds of postmasters on the Horizon system from 1997 to 2000, has come forward, stating, “Dozens of us knew there were problems. We did express that we thought there were glitches, and I feel that we were ignored.”

Walker, contracted by Fujitsu-owned International Computers Limited, the developer of the £1 billion Horizon technology, claimed that her complaints about the system’s failings fell on deaf ears. “I could only report it to the person above me. Nobody knows how far up the chain it went,” she asserted.

The revelations come as convictions of over 700 sub-postmasters, accused of false accounting and theft based on Horizon accounts, are set to be quashed. Naomi Walker later worked on a hotline for branch managers dealing with the repercussions of the flawed system.

In a surprising turn, the government attempted to bar Fujitsu from public IT contracts in the 2010s, citing alleged “incompetence.” The move, known as “Project Sushi,” faced legal opposition, preventing the ban.

As the Horizon scandal unravels, questions surround the depth of awareness within the government, with Lord Cameron admitting he cannot recall being fully aware of the scandal’s scale during his tenure as PM from 2010 to 2016.

 The revelation adds another layer to the unfolding controversy surrounding the Post Office Horizon system and its impact on sub-postmasters across the country.