NEWS STORY : Kevin Hollinrake Calls for Prison Sentences for those Involved with Post Office Horizon Scandal

STORY

Kevin Hollinrake, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business who is responsible for the Post Office, has called for prison sentences for those involved with the Post Office Horizon scandal. Speaking on BBC’s Any Questions, the Minister said:

“If it’s individuals, those people can be criminally prosecuted, potentially, and potentially can go to jail. I think we’d all like to see that kind of route taken. People must be held to account.”

Separately, a series of revelations have been made where senior figures in the Post Office lied to the media and the Government has said that these will be investigated.

The BBC revealed that Mark Davies, representing the Post Office’s PR, said:

“There is overwhelming evidence that the losses complained of were caused by user actions, including deliberate dishonest conduct.”

A spokesperson for Davies denied blame and said that “he was doing his job” when he tried to block a BBC Panorama report into the scandal from being broadcast. Davies, who now works for the Refugee Council, refused to comment when PR Week contacted him. There is no evidence that Davies deliberately lied, but questions about being asked about which Post Office managers were aware of the scandal and were part of the cover-up.