Racist Post Office Documents About Horizon Victims Used Until 2013 – Review
The delivery giant initiated an internal investigation after unsettling documents revealed bias in the processes used by investigators during the Horizon scandal. Campaigners working on the case uncovered documents that instructed fraud investigators to categorize suspects according to racial features.
Between 2000 and 2015, over 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted based on inaccurate data from Fujitsu’s flawed Horizon accounting system, which was employed by the Post Offices. These prosecutions have since been called into question, sparking outrage and subsequent inquiries.
Legal representatives for the Post Office had also circulated these concerning documents during the course of the Horizon investigations, as recently as 2019.
The alarming document, utilized by the company’s security team, contained identity codes that were accompanied by racially descriptive language, intended for profiling potential suspects. Among the descriptions was the outdated and offensive term “negroid types,” alongside other derogatory designations such as “Siamese,” “Malaya,” and “Chinese/Japanese types.”
Karen McEwan, the Group Chief People Officer at the Post Office, strongly condemned the language used. “The language used was utterly abhorrent, and I would like to reiterate the Post Office’s condemnation of its usage,” she stated. McEwan, who joined the organization in September 2023, highlighted her commitment to fostering cultural transformation within the company. “We have a zero tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where all colleagues feel respected and valued,” she affirmed.
The investigation revealed that an email containing such language dated back to 2008. This troubling language had been copied from documentation originating in 1987, with the review uncovering that the identity coding system was first introduced by UK police in the 1970s. It was noted that an employee associated with the security and investigations department at Royal Mail Group and the Post Office was found to be linked to the document in 2009 and 2019. Notably, the Post Office was part of Royal Mail until 2012.
The report confirmed that a document containing these offensive identity codes was in internal use and underwent revisions as recently as 2013. During this period, the company was under the leadership of Paula Vennells, who has since returned her CBE in response to the scandal’s public backlash.
The review disclosed that these identity code documents were last used as an attachment in an email to lawyers in May 2019. Nevertheless, it emphasized that by 2019, the document’s presence appeared to be purely historical, having remained unopened.
Jeremy Scott-Joynt, a barrister at Outer Temple Chambers who served as external counsel to the Project May inquiry, expressed skepticism that these identity codes placed individuals of specific ethnicity at a distinct disadvantage. However, he pointed out that the continuity of offensive language in such documents might suggest an underlying insensitivity to ethnic biases during investigations related to the Horizon scandal.
Juliet Lang, Leadership and Culture Director at the Post Office, acknowledged the report’s findings as profoundly troubling. “The report is an extremely hard read, and rightly so – the language used in the document was unacceptable, and it is imperative that we understand how it came to be,” she remarked. Lang emphasized that the contemporary Post Office prioritizes cultivating a culture of respect and inclusion for all employees. “Over the years, we have significantly advanced our diversity and inclusion processes, educated colleagues, and implemented robust systems to ensure these values are at the core of our operation,” she added.
The revelations surrounding the historical use of racially insensitive documentation serve as a stark reminder of the systemic issues that have long pervaded institutions. They highlight the importance of ongoing vigilance and reform to promote equitable and respectful treatment for all individuals within such organizations.
