Fujitsu bugs that sent innocent people to prison were known “from the start” | Software bugs were hidden from lawyers of wrongly convicted UK postal workers::Software bugs were hidden from lawyers of wrongly convicted UK postal workers.

  • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    That goes back to 1999, when the Horizon software system was installed in post offices by Fujitsu subsidiary International Computers Limited. From 1999 to 2015, Fujitsu’s faulty accounting software aided in the prosecution and conviction of more than 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses who were accused of theft or fraud when the software wrongly made it appear that money was missing from their branches.

    Some innocent people went to prison, while others were forced to make payments to the UK Post Office to cover the supposed shortfalls. So far, “only 93 convictions have been overturned and thousands of people are still waiting for compensation settlements,” a BBC report said. Post Office lawyers rewrote Fujitsu witness statements

    During the prosecutions, courts hearing cases against postal employees “were not told of 29 bugs identified as early as 1999 in the system it built,” The Guardian wrote in a summary of Patterson’s testimony today. The article said:

    “When bugs were acknowledged, witness statements from Fujitsu staff due to be heard in court were then edited by the Post Office as it sought to maintain the line that the system was working well as it pursued innocent people through the courts.”

    This is beyond fucked. That’s what happens when your have a justice system where the police and prosecution only cares about winning their case with no regards to truth and real justice.