Fujitsu has said it has a ‘moral obligation’ to contribute to the compensation scheme for Horizon victims, and that staff knew of problems with the IT system prior to 2010.
Paul Patterson, UK director of Fujitsu, gave evidence today at a public inquiry, facing questions from MPs. The IT firm is responsible for producing the faulty Horizon software, leading to hundreds of postmasters being wrongly prosecuted for theft and false accounting.
Although stating that Fujitsu has a “moral obligation” to help compensate victims, Patterson refused to disclose a value when pressed, instead claiming he had “no estimate at all”.
Patterson also said it is up to the inquiry to “decide where the responsibility lies”. Fujitsu has been under mounting pressure, having remained silent in the past while the miscarriage of justice played out.
Today, Patterson also shared he had a “gut feeling” staff knew of the glitches before 2010, and that PO were aware the firm had remote access to the system, which previously had been denied.
The Post Office’s (PO) group chief executive Nick Read also faced questions from MPs. He confirmed that the PO would cease partnership with Fujitsu moving forward, in order to install a “modern system for a modern PO”.
Both Patterson and Read agreed that they welcomed mass exoneration of the victims.
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