There are not many opportunities for light relief in the Post Office Inquiry, which aims to get to the bottom of why hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters were wrongly accused and convicted of theft. But a malapropism highlighted in this week’s hearing involving former general counsel Susan Crichton prompted snorts of amusement.
In-house criminal solicitor Jarnail Singh had emailed Crichton in 2012 warning of the risks of the Post Office dropping prosecutions while it carried out a review of the Horizon IT system.
Singh said such a policy would be exploited by those trying to clear their name, who would rely on any potential Horizon weakness. Singh continued: ‘It may send a green light for defendants to get hold of their member of parliament and result in copulation.’ Helpfully, inquiry counsel Julian Blake stepped in to suggest that Singh meant to say ‘capitulation’ rather than ‘copulation’.
One rather hopes so.
