After the introduction of a new computer system in the early 2000s, the Post Office began using its data to accuse sub-postmasters of falsifying accounts and stealing money. Many were fired and financially ruined; others were prosecuted and even put behind bars. In this ten-part series, journalist Nick Wallis, gets right to the heart of the story, as he talks to those whose lives were shattered and follows the twists and turns of a David and Goliath battle as the sub-postmasters tried to fight back. Today, Alan Bates and the sub-postmasters reach the High Court, and the Post Office’s secrets start to tumble out one by one. Presenter: Nick Wallis
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Executive Producer: David Prest
With Sound Design from Emma Barnaby and Story Editing from Alexis Hood.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

9. Extremely Aggressive Litigation

An investigation of the largest miscarriage of justice in UK legal history. It's the story of how the Post Office systematically persecuted honest people, and how a small band of victims fought back in the face of impossible odds.

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has been called the widest miscarriage of justice in modern British history, with the number of former Sub Postmasters whose convictions have been overturned now over 60. Those who suffered prosecution or financial ruin due to errors on the Post Office's Horizon computer system want answers. How could this have happened? Who is responsible? Continuing the series that has helped expose the scandal since 2020, Nick Wallis draws on interviews, documents and the extraordinary revelations spilling out of the ongoing public inquiry. For the first time, the public is getting real insight into what was really going on inside the Post Office. In Episode 17, Nick explores how senior Post Office lawyers and managers reacted in 2013 to the biggest challenge to the Horizon system yet. After MPs forced an independent investigation which identified bugs in Horizon, the Post Office publicly backed their computer system and reaffirmed their faith in the prosecutions they had conducted. But behind the scenes, all hell was breaking loose.   Presenter: Nick Wallis
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Sound Design and Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Will Yates A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

17. Facing the Music

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has been called the widest miscarriage of justice in modern British history, with the number of former Sub Postmasters whose convictions have been overturned now over 60. Those who suffered prosecution or financial ruin due to errors on the Post Office's Horizon computer system want answers. How could this have happened? Who is responsible? Continuing the series that has helped expose the scandal since 2020, Nick Wallis draws on interviews, documents and the extraordinary revelations spilling out of the ongoing public inquiry. For the first time, the public is getting real insight into what was really going on inside the Post Office. In Episode 16, we hear how newly revealed documents show that the Post Office rejected even internal calls for an independent investigation of Horizon. They instead commissioned a deliberately one sided internal report which never even considered evidence of errors. This report was nevertheless used to justify dismissing Sub Postmasters' concerns and maintaining an aggressive prosecution strategy. Presenter: Nick Wallis
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Sound Design and Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Will Yates A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

16. Closed Ranks

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has been called the widest miscarriage of justice in modern British history, with the number of former Sub Postmasters whose convictions have been overturned now over 60. Those who suffered prosecution or financial ruin due to errors on the Post Office's Horizon computer system want answers. How could this have happened? Who is responsible? Continuing the series that has helped expose the scandal since 2020, Nick Wallis draws on interviews, documents and the extraordinary revelations spilling out of the ongoing public inquiry. For the first time, the public is getting real insight into what was really going on inside the Post Office.  In Episode 15, we hear how the Post Office ruined the life of Lee Castleton, a Sub Postmaster based in Bridlington who was taken to court over debts he says came from the Horizon computer system. New evidence reveals that the Post Office failed to investigate Lee's claims of computer errors in depth before taking him to court, and shows that evidence that may have cast doubt on Horizon was known about but not provided at the trial. Presenter: Nick Wallis
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Sound Design and Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Will Yates A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

15. Breaking Lee Castleton

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has been called the widest miscarriage of justice in modern British history, with the number of former Sub Postmasters whose convictions have been overturned now over 60. Those who suffered prosecution or financial ruin due to errors on the Post Office's Horizon computer system want answers. How could this have happened? Who is responsible? Continuing the series that has helped expose the scandal since 2020, Nick Wallis draws on interviews, documents and the extraordinary revelations spilling out of the ongoing public inquiry. For the first time, the public is getting real insight into what was really going on inside the Post Office.  In Episode 14, we hear how the Post Office disregarded red flags about Horizon when it rolled the system out, and how flawed and incomplete prosecution policies set the stage for the mass prosecution of many innocent Sub Postmasters. Presenter: Nick Wallis
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Sound Design and Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Will Yates A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

14. The Prosecution Spree

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has been called the widest miscarriage of justice in modern British history, with the number of former Sub Postmasters whose convictions have been overturned now over 60. Those who suffered prosecution or financial ruin due to errors on the Post Office's Horizon computer system want answers. How could this have happened? Who is responsible? Continuing the series that has helped expose the scandal since 2020, Nick Wallis draws on interviews, documents and the extraordinary revelations spilling out of the ongoing public inquiry. For the first time, the public is getting real insight into what was really going on inside the Post Office.  Presenter: Nick Wallis
Producer: Robert Nicholson
Sound Design and Mixing: Arlie Adlington
Executive Producer: Will Yates A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

9. Extremely Aggressive Litigation

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