Edward Henry KC Delivers Closing Statement at Post Office Inquiry

Edward Henry KC, instructed by Hodge Jones & Allen, delivered a powerful closing statement on behalf of sub-postmasters during the penultimate day of the Post Office Inquiry (16th December 2024).

Addressing the inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, Edward Henry KC condemned the Post Office’s handling of the Horizon IT scandal, asserting that “Horizon did not destroy the innocent, the malignant culture of the Post Office did.” He attributed the wrongful convictions and financial ruin suffered by hundreds of sub-postmasters to a toxic organisational environment.

Edward Henry KC criticised senior Post Office executives for ignoring concerns raised about the flawed Horizon IT system, stating: “This heartlessness came from the top.” He alleged that Post Office managers “closed their minds and closed ranks around the system,” fostering a “culture of contempt, ridicule, even hatred towards the subpostmasters and their complaints.”

He urged the inquiry to resist attempts by executives to evade responsibility through legal deflections, emphasising: “The truth is that human beings engaged in a deliberate conspiracy, first to convict innocent people, either in the criminal courts, or to destroy them in the civil courts, and then to cover it up.”

Edward Henry KC concluded by highlighting the broader systemic failures, calling the scandal a “state-sponsored disaster.”

The inquiry is expected to be published next year.

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