Ex-Fujitsu engineer apologises at Publish Workplace inquiry over ‘bandwagon’ declare

A former Fujitsu engineer has apologised for emails wherein he accused Seema Misra, a high-profile sufferer of the Publish Workplace’s Horizon IT scandal, of “leaping on the bandwagon” in questioning the reliability of the organisation’s laptop system.

Gareth Jenkins, a former senior engineer at Fujitsu, which developed the Horizon system, was giving proof for a 3rd day to a public inquiry analyzing why the Post Office wrongly prosecuted a whole lot of department operators for monetary discrepancies earlier than it emerged that the system was unreliable.

Jenkins was questioned in regards to the prison prosecution of Misra, a submit workplace operator who was pregnant along with her second baby in 2010 when she was convicted of theft and sentenced to fifteen months in jail. Her conviction was overturned by the courtroom of attraction in 2021. Jenkins was an professional witness for the Publish Workplace at her trial.

Jenkins informed the inquiry that her prosecution by Publish Workplace administration had been “pretty chaotic” and agreed that he felt “uncomfortable” and put beneath stress by Publish Workplace administration over the case.

The inquiry was proven an electronic mail dated 1 March 2010 from Jenkins to a Publish Workplace govt wherein he wrote that Misra had “determined to leap on the bandwagon” and blame Horizon in her courtroom case.

Jenkins informed the inquiry of his selection of phrases: “It was completely inappropriate on my half and I apologise.”

He despatched one other electronic mail to a Publish Workplace supervisor in February 2010 wherein he wrote: “Please see electronic mail path under. That is one other instance of postmasters making an attempt to get away with ‘Horizon has taken my cash’.”

Jason Beer KC, counsel to the inquiry, requested: “Does that reveal what your mindset was in February 2010 if you had been conducting investigations into Seema Misra’s case and offering witness statements?”

Jenkins replied: “No. That’s me, very poorly, making an attempt to summarise what I believed was being specified by the e-mail path under and I apologise for the wording that I used there.”

Beer continued: “Did you imagine that there have been many examples of postmasters making an attempt to get away with ‘Horizon has taken my cash’?”

Jenkins replied: “I can’t bear in mind what I believed … I used to be making an attempt to summarise the e-mail path under. I didn’t imagine there have been any issues with Horizon that had been inflicting Horizon to lose cash.”

Jenkins was requested why he had not felt the necessity to take authorized recommendation about whether or not to incorporate particulars in his witness assertion about an IT bug present in a Derby department.

“You had been stepping out of the pc lab and strolling right into a courtroom, weren’t you?” mentioned Beer.

Jenkins mentioned: “I didn’t realise there was that distinction I wanted to fret about and nobody suggested me as to that.”

Jenkins was requested about whether or not he was now “untroubled” or “glad” together with his witness proof at Misra’s trial. He replied: “On the time, I used to be. I clearly recognize now that it was not so good as it ought to have been. However on the time, I felt proud of it.”

The inquiry heard that he was informed in an electronic mail by a colleague after Misra’s trial: “Good one Gareth. Seems to be such as you now have a sideline of resident professional witness in future Publish Workplace fraud circumstances.” The inquiry heard that Jenkins was used as a witness in numerous prosecutions after 2010.

He mentioned he now realised that “he didn’t perceive what an professional witness was” or its “authorized niceties”.

The inquiry continues.