Who is Stephen Bradshaw and what has he been accused of?
Inside the details of the Post Office scandal
THE Post Office Inquiry is currently underway and Stephen Bradshaw is being heard from.
Phase 4 of the inquiry continues after there was a break for Christmas.
Who is Stephen Bradshaw?
Stephen Bradshaw was an investigator in the Post Office scandal.
He was involved in the criminal investigation of nine sub-postmasters and has been an employee of the Post Office himself since 1978.
He has been prompted to give evidence in Phase 4 of the Post Office Inquiry.
It was in 2000 that Bradshaw joined the unit that was investigating sub-postmasters.
What is the Post Office scandal?
The Post Office scandal is when hundred of sub-postmasters across the UK were wrongly prosecuted or convicted between 1999 and 2015 for false accounting, theft and fraud.
However, it was really down to glitches in software system Horizon which was being used in Post Offices which falsely showed money was missing from accounts.
This resulted in some people being sent to prison and ordered to pay back money, with some dying before their names were cleared.
For years, the Post Office maintained that the system, which was developed by Japan’s Fujitsu, was not at fault.
In 2019, the Post Office agreed to settle claims made by 555 sub-postmasters.
But, many victims found the amount paid in compensation was outweighed by their legal fees.
The Government has said roughly 138 million pounds have so far been paid out to more than 2,700 claimants across three separate Post Office compensation schemes.
What has Stephen Bradshaw been accused of?
Bradshaw has been accused of bullying branch managers as he was involved in investigations which accused sub-postmasters of stealing money.
However, he has since denied he and his colleagues “behaved like Mafia gangsters” during the investigations.
Mr Bradshaw has been accused by Merseyside sub-postmistress Rita Threlfall of asking her for the colour of her eyes and what jewellery she wore as he said: “Good, so we’ve got a description of you for when they come’, during her interview under caution in August 2010.”
While sub-postmistress, Jacqueline McDonald, said she was “bullied” by the investigator during an investigation into her alleged £50,000 shortfall.
Responding to Ms McDonald’s claims in his statement, the witness said: ‘I refute the allegation that I am a liar.
This comes after the revelation that fraud investigators received a bonus for each postmaster they jailed.
Bradshaw also told the inquiry that a 2012 statement signed by him declaring the Post Office’s “absolute confidence” in Horizon was written by lawyers from the law firm Cartwright King.
Does Stephen Bradshaw still work for the Post Office?
Yes, Bradshaw still works for the Post Office.
He told the current inquiry that he still works for the Post Office as a security officer