A former sub-postmaster and a central figure in the Horizon scandal is the first individual to sue both the Post Office and Fujitsu for their role in proceedings brought against him.
Lee Castleton, who ran a branch in Bridlington, was subject to a High Court judgment in 2007 by the Post Office, which claimed that he had lost more than £25,000. The Post Office pursued him for this money and incurred more than £300,000 costs, leaving Castleton, a litigant in person, bankrupt and homeless.
The missing funds were in fact due to ‘balancing errors’ and bugs in the Horizon system. Castleton has instructed London firm Simons Muirhead Burton to pursue the Post Office and Fujitsu over the information they disclosed.
In his legal action, Castleton will say that the Post Office (conspiring with others) obtained its judgment against him by fraud by withholding evidence of the unreliability of the Horizon system.
His solicitor Simon Goldberg said: ‘The 2007 judgment destroyed his business, his livelihood, and his reputation in his community, and it resulted in his bankruptcy. It had a devastating long-term impact on his own and his family’s health.
‘Mr Castleton has issued proceedings to seek public vindication by the judgment of the court that a great injustice and wrong was intentionally done to him and to his family by the Post Office and others. That is a public vindication that only the court can give.’
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There has already been a group litigation culminating in Mr Justice Fraser’s ruling against the Post Office. This was the basis for the ITV drama Mr Bates v The Post Office.
In his judgment, Fraser said that a Fujitsu employee had given evidence in court in the Castleton case which been misleading about the extent of the software problems being experienced, describing an error report as an ‘administrative response’. The judge added: ‘That term does not begin, in my judgment, properly to describe or summarise the problems to which the body of the [error report] referred.’
The Post Office Inquiry heard last year that an auditor for the Post Office omitted important details in her witness statement in the Castleton case. She also failed to tell the court that Castleton said he had been in contact with the Horizon helpline regularly to report problems.
Post Office and Fujitsu have been approached for comment. A Post Office spokesperson said: 'We recognise that many victims of the Horizon IT scandal continue to be impacted by their experience. Post Office today is committed to doing all we can to help those affected get closure. We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings but once we receive the claim, we will engage fully in the process.'
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