Wendy Buffrey, Nick Wallis, Ian Henderson and Richard Moorhead

Victim of the Horizon scandal Wendy Buffrey, journalist and broadcaster Nick Wallis, forensic computer expert and trial witness for Horizon complainants Ian Henderson, lawyer and member of the government’s Horizon Compensation Advisory Board Professor Richard Moorhead discuss their roles in the Post Office scandal and the continuing fight for justice.

Buffrey was a subpostmaster in Up Hatherley, Cheltenham, between 1998 and 2008. She operated the Horizon system for eight years without issue until one day in 2008 her terminal showed she had £18,000 in stamps in stock that she didn’t have. She reversed the stock out of her balance and found the discrepancy had doubled to £36,000. She was suspended and her role was ultimately terminated. Two years later she was summonsed for theft and false accounting. Like many, she pleaded guilty to avoid the prospect of prison. The case had a devastating impact on her and her family.

Wallis is a freelance journalist and broadcaster who has worked with the BBC, Private Eye and ITN. He has been working on the Horizon story since 2010 when a taxi driver told him his pregnant wife had been sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. He has reported on the Post Office scandal in a series of broadcasts, news articles and in a book, The Great Post Office Scandal. He worked as series consultant on the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

Henderson is a forensic computer expert who advises and supports organisations on fraud. He has given evidence in many high-profile civil and criminal court cases and was called as an expert witness in support of claimants in the Horizon scandal. He was appointed by the Post Office to investigate the Horizon system and later told a House of Commons committee that the Post Office had thwarted his investigation. The character of Bob Rutherford in the ITV drama is based on Henderson and another investigator, Ron Warmington.

Moorhead is professor of law and professional ethics at the University of Exeter, founder of lawyerwatch.blog and a leading academic commentator on Horizon. He led calls for the Post Office Inquiry to lift privilege and scrutinise the lawyers. He leads an academic project on the scandal that has revealed issues around ethics and around the mental health impacts of unjust accusations on Post Office victims.

This event is part of a series on the uncovering of public scandals and on campaigns against injustice.