Postmasters pension raid 'horrendous'

Former boss at Horizon probe

- Robert Kellaway

A FORMER Post Office boss has denied being the architect of a "horrendous" plan to target the pensions of sub-postmasters accused of fraud.

The Horizon IT inquiry heard ex-chief operating officer David Miller was at a meeting and was assigned the task of ensuring "that the pensions of fraudsters were targeted to help ensure the company was reimbursed".

He also denied likening Horizon developers Fujitsu to a "man who had just shoved 15in of bayonet up my posterior". Mr Miller was quoted in a 2010 PowerPoint presentation which said Post Office chiefs felt they had been "shafted" by the Government and the firm, then called ICL Pathway.

The document, by IT programme manager Dave Smith, said the agreement with the tech giant had been signed with a "gun pointed at the head" of the Post Office.