Post Office and Fujitsu accused of delaying £4m legal claim

What’s Happening

Not gonna lie, Lee Castleton is taking legal action against his former employer over the Horizon IT scandal.

Post Office and Fujitsu accused of delaying £4m legal claim 20 hours ago Save Emma Simpson , Business correspondent and Tom Beal , Reporter Save BBC/Tom Beal Former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton Post Office and Fujitsu have been accused of driving up legal costs and delaying a former sub-postmaster from suing them for £4m in damages over the Horizon IT scandal, the High Court heard. Lee Castleton OBE was pursued Office to recover £25,000 of cash it alleged was missing from his branch in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, in 2007. (it feels like chaos)

His two-year legal fight saw him declared bankrupt following legal costs of £321,000.

The Details

At the first hearing in his claim on Friday, the court was told that Fujitsu, the company responsible for the faulty software, had already racked up more than £700,000 in legal costs. Mr Castleton is the first individual to take legal action against both organisations.

Fridays preliminary hearing was about how the case should proceed. The court heard that “hurdles” were being put in front of Mr Castleton to make his claim as “difficult, time-consuming and expensive as possible”.

Why This Matters

His legal team allege the Post Offices decision to pursue its 2007 civil claim against him was an “abuse of process of the court”, and that the eventual judgment was obtained by fraud. They also all claim the state-run institution conspired with Fujitsu to pervert the course of justice by “deliberately and dishonestly” withholding evidence. Mr Castleton was one of 555 sub-postmasters who took the Post Office to court in an epic legal battle, led Bates.

This reflects broader trends we’re seeing in the business world right now.

The Bottom Line

They clutched their case in 2019 and agreed a settlement but they never received proper compensation because the money they received was largely swallowed up costs to fund their case. Mr Castleton wants that settlement to be set aside, alleging it was fraudulently obtained involving “sharp practice” Office.

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