Police investigating the Post Office Horizon scandal have widened their inquiry to assess potential corporate manslaughter charges, marking one of the most significant developments in the criminal investigation to date.
The expansion indicates the most substantial escalation yet in efforts to establish accountability for what has been described as Britain’s most extensive miscarriage of justice.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council confirmed on Monday that fifty-three persons of interest are now under examination.
Eight individuals remain formal suspects in the investigation.
Operation Olympos, the dedicated policing operation probing the scandal, is seeking Crown Prosecution Service advice on corporate and gross negligent manslaughter charges.
The development follows years of campaigning by victims who were wrongfully prosecuted when Fujitsu’s Horizon accounting system produced inaccurate figures showing false shortfalls.
More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted based on faulty data generated by the system.
A fifth person has now been interviewed under caution, the NPCC said.
The organisation maintains that arrests are not currently required due to existing powers allowing officers to secure essential evidence without detaining suspects.
In a statement, the NPCC said: “The primary and sole focus remains the offences of Perverting the Course of Justice and Perjury and this has not changed”.
Police probing the Post Office Horizon scandal are now assessing potential corporate manslaughter charges
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POST OFFICEIt added: “However, as was done with fraud offences previously, advice is being sought from the CPS around the offences of Corporate and Gross Negligent manslaughter”.
Those under investigation include Post Office investigators, legal advisers and senior management linked to both the Post Office and Fujitsu.
Officers continue to examine millions of documents gathered during the inquiry, which has grown into one of the largest investigations of its kind.
Police have urged victims who signed non-disclosure agreements with the Post Office to come forward.
Investigators say victims have been given written assurances that such agreements will not be enforced if they assist with the inquiry.
The Horizon system, introduced in 1999, created accounting errors that wrongly suggested subpostmasters were responsible for missing funds.
These errors led to criminal charges, financial ruin and severe personal hardship
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LINCOLNSHIRE POLICEThese errors led to criminal charges, financial ruin and severe personal hardship, with some subpostmasters imprisoned as a result of the faulty software.
Christopher Head, who became Britain’s youngest subpostmaster at the age of eighteen in 2006 and later received an OBE for his campaigning work, said the expansion marks “an important step towards justice that those responsible for causing the harm to thousands of victims, their families and those who are sadly no longer with us are held to account”.
The inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams revealed in July that approximately thirteen people are believed to have taken their own lives due to the scandal’s devastating consequences.
A further 59 are reported to have contemplated suicide, with ten attempting to take their lives.
Among the cases highlighted was that of Martin Griffiths, aged fifty-nine, who died in 2013 after the Horizon system falsely showed deficits exceeding £100,000 at his branch in Ellesmere Port.
Another case involved Michael Mann, aged 51, a former Stockport Post Office manager who died in the same year following questioning on suspicion of fraud.
Labour peer Kevan Jones, who has long campaigned on behalf of victims, said: “It’s a welcome development but individuals still need to be held accountable for their part in ruining the lives of hundreds of decent hard working people”.
The police investigation, which began in 2020, expanded significantly last year and now involves around one hundred officers working across four regional hubs.
Case files are being transferred to the CPS on a rolling basis until prosecutors have sufficient material to make charging decisions.
Sir Alan Bates led 555 subpostmasters to victory in the High Court in 2019
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Officers have described the inquiry as unprecedented, with the potential to involve more than three thousand victims and over 1.5 million documents.
The lead investigator has previously indicated that criminal proceedings may not begin before 2028.
Sir Alan Bates, who led 555 subpostmasters to victory in the High Court in 2019 and was knighted last year, recently secured a multi-million-pound compensation settlement from the Post Office.
The scandal has gained renewed public attention following the ITV drama “Mr Bates Vs The Post Office”.