13 UK postal workers commit suicide after Fujitsu's Horizon system malfunctions
Due to flaws in the accounting system 'Horizon' developed by ICL Pathway Limited (later Fujitsu Services Limited), a series of cases occurred in which more than 900 postmasters in the UK were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015. A 162-page report related to this case was made public in July 2025, confirming that up to 13 postmasters suspected of crimes committed suicide and at least 59 considered suicide.
Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Final Report Volume 1.pdf
(PDF file)
Post Office scandal may have led to more than 13 suicides, inquiry finds | Post Office Horizon scandal | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/08/post-office-scandal-inquiry-horizon-it-scandal
In 1999, Horizon, an accounting system developed by Fujitsu Services Limited, a subsidiary of Fujitsu in the UK, was introduced to approximately 14,000 post offices to handle accounting procedures at post offices. However, Horizon had a problem that often resulted in shortfalls in payments, leading to suspicions of fraud and theft among post office personnel, and many people were convicted between 1999 and 2015.
The people who were charged in this case were mainly those who held the position of sub-postmaster. Sub-postmasters are responsible for running post offices and have contracts with the post office, but are not employees of the post office. In terms of form, they run post offices and retail businesses related to the post office.
In the 15 years since the deployment of Horizon, many officials, including sub-postmasters, have been prosecuted and convicted of theft and other offences. According to the first volume of the report of the hearings chaired by former judge Sir William Williams, nearly 1,000 people have been prosecuted and 10,000 people are seeking compensation.
The total number of people wrongfully held responsible for losses in this case was in the thousands, many of whom paid for the shortfalls out of their own pockets without ever being charged. The report found that postal executives knew or should have known that their IT systems were flawed, yet they insisted that 'the data was always accurate' when prosecuting employees.
The cause of the problem is said to be a glitch in Horizon's systems, and security expert Steven Murdoch has
However, in England and Wales, there is a rule that 'computer operation is assumed to be normal unless there is evidence to the contrary,' and as Anne Chambers, a senior engineer at Fujitsu at the time, and others said , the system malfunction was not discovered at the time, making it difficult to prove the innocence of the officials.
According to Computer Weekly , which has been investigating this issue since 2004, the post office has even tried to silence those involved. Post office employees have rebelled against this, and some have organized themselves to fight back. One of the rebels was Alan Bates, whose film ' Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office, ' which was released in 2024, includes the League of Subpostmasters that Bates founded and his specific activities.
In addition, during some of the trials , Horizon's chief architect, Thorsten Godeses, testified that 'in 2007, a Fujitsu engineer accidentally caused a financial discrepancy when he tried to replace a line of code that was missing from a subpostmaster's device without the subpostmaster's knowledge or permission. At the time, Fujitsu either did not notice the discrepancy or noticed the discrepancy but did not identify its cause, and so shifted the responsibility to the subpostmaster.'
Numerous trials, hearings and investigations have been conducted in connection with this case by 2025, and it has become clear that the lives of the victims have been destroyed. According to a report released in July 2025, at least four people have committed suicide in connection with the incident as reported up to that point, and the number of suicides is thought to be as high as 13. It has been pointed out that the total number may increase if unreported deaths are included, and it has also been reported that 19 more people have become alcohol dependent, 59 people have considered suicide, and 10 of them have actually attempted suicide.
Those who were acquitted were often isolated in their communities, and some died before they could receive compensation - the report estimates the number at around 350 - and some families suffered mental and other illnesses, as well as very serious economic losses.
The report found that around 10,000 people have claimed compensation through the four compensation schemes, and that this number is expected to rise by at least several hundred more. Lord Williams said there were more than 3,000 outstanding claims, half of which would still be in the early stages of claiming in 2025.
In his report, Lord Williams pointed out that 'too often the Post Office and its advisers adopted an unnecessarily adversarial attitude in determining the amount of their initial offers, thereby lowering the bar on settlements. To ensure fair compensation, he said victims should receive free legal advice funded by the government to help them decide whether to accept fixed compensation or have their claims assessed. He also argued that compensation should be awarded to the next of kin of affected post office operators.
Following the findings of the investigation, Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said on behalf of the company: 'We offer a clear and unequivocal apology to all those affected by this scandal and accept that as an organisation we have let them down.'
The report did not disclose the total amount of compensation paid through 2025, but the government said that more than 7,300 post office operators had been paid more than 1 billion euros (about 170 billion yen) in compensation by June 9, 2025.
Lord Williams will publish the second volume of his findings at a later date.
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