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The Post Office Scandal is an indelible stain on the British justice system: hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly labelled criminals, ruining lives and destroying communities. But the real scandal was that the Post Office’s lawyers knew the evidence was flawed but failed to act, in their quest to defend a corporation. Why did they not stop it?
This book dives into how legal professionals failed in their duties, silenced the truth and even turned against the victims, including accounts from victims who were advised to enter guilty pleas. But this is not just about the Post Office — this is a wider examination of the legal profession and its ethical boundaries, asking whether lawyers are putting clients' interests above justice and how to stop such a disaster from happening again.
“A devastating critique of the lawyers involved in the Post Office scandal. The lay reader will be aghast at their actions. Every lawyer must read this book and resolve to learn its lessons.” Nick Wallis, author of The Great Post Office Scandal
“A compelling and meticulously researched examination of the Post Office scandal that lays bare the institutional failures, the culture of silence and complicity among lawyers, and the devastating human cost at the heart of one of Britain’s gravest injustices.” Christopher Head OBE, former postmaster and campaigner
‘A vital, forensic examination of the Post Office scandal, exposing legal and ethical failures, and demanding accountability, reform and reflection.’ Fran Eccles-Bech, Manchester Law Society
‘This accurate and extraordinarily well-written book sheds light on the behaviour of Post Office’s in-house and external legal advisors, revealing much that they would doubtless prefer to have remained unseen.’ Ron Warmington, Second Sight Investigations Ltd
‘John Hyde continues his terrific work reporting for the Law Society Gazette with this riveting read on why lawyers are at the heart of the Post Office scandal.’ Richard Moorhead, Monash University and University of Exeter
1: The Blame Game
2: The Start of It All
3: The Totem Poles
4: The Case That Could Have Stopped It All
5: 'We Will Ruin You'
6: Drowning in Disclosure
7: Protect Horizon at All Costs
8: Pregnant Thief
9: Introducing Jarnail Singh
10: Red Flags Missed
11: Blind Denial
12: Horizon-Bashing Bandwagon
13: A Lack of Expertise
14: Shutting Down Transparency
15: Errors on Repeat
16: Case against the Defence
17: Long Live the King
18: New Lawyers, Familiar Mistakes
19: Trouble in Sight
20: The Second Sight Report
21: Covert Recordings, Secret Meetings
22: This Has to End
23: Like a Naughty Schoolgirl
24: The Doomed Mediation
25: The Lawyer the Post Office Needed
26: A Question of Independence
27: Abusing the Privilege
28: See You in Court
29: Adversarial Litigation or Crossing a Line?
30: A Poorly Judged Request
31: The Difficult Second Judgment
32: Settling the Debate
33: No-Plane Jane
34. Analysis