Post Office scandal - ex-Royal Mail boss apologises at inquiry

Former Post Office boss Allan Leighton has apologised at a public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal, which between 1999 and 2015 saw 'sub-postmasters' incorrectly implicated in financial discrepancies.

Leighton served as the Royal Mail chairman from 2002 to 2009, a period in which the postal company operated the Post Office, and, today he apologised for "elements" that occurred during that period, though he told the inquiry he was unaware of the IT system's flaws at the time.

The Horizon system, developed by Fujitsu, inaccurately reported cash shortfalls, leading to the wrongful conviction of several post office workers. The convictions have been widely criticised, with affected individuals and their families calling for justice and accountability.

It has been a long-running but under-reported saga until a spotlight was put on the scandal, and its victims, following the broadcast of a dramatised television show, "Mr Bates vs The Post Office", on ITV earlier this year.

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Media reports generally focus on the personal testimonies and the emotional impact on the victims, likely eliciting a sympathetic response from the audience.

Other reports meanwhile stick to a more detached, factual account of the inquiry's hearings to date, including a focus on the procedural aspects of the scandal.

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