Employees suffered enormous damage: according to the BBC, someone had a broken marriage, and someone lost time that they could have spent with their children. In an interview with the BBC, Janet Skinner reveals that she was separated from her two children for nine months during which she was in prison after Horizon showed a £ 59,000 shortfall. She also reports that she lost a job offer due to her criminal record. The time spent by her and others in prison cannot be returned, and it happened because the program was trusted at its word.

Another woman, who had sworn innocence, was sent to prison while pregnant for theft, according to the BBC. One person reportedly committed suicide after a computer system showed that he had lost almost £ 100,000. A few months later, the employee who replaced him also suffered losses due to inconsistencies in the software.

Horizon was created by the Japanese company Fujitsu. The data from this program was used to prosecute 736 Post Office employees between 2000 and 2014, some of whom subsequently ended up in jail. Errors in the system led to reports that there was a shortage in employee accounts – the BBC reported that some employees tried to make up for it by mortgaging their homes and using their own savings.

It looks like the employee nightmare is coming to an end. The 39 people who had their convictions overturned follow six more who were dropped in December. The Post Office paid financial compensation to employees who were charged based on the program’s messages.

In 2019, the Post Office settled with 555 claimants and reimbursed them for damages, as well as organized a system of payments to other injured employees. To date, according to the BBC, more than 2,400 applications have been filed.

Earlier this month, the Post Office chief executive announced that Horizon will be replaced with a new cloud solution. He also said that the company will work with the government to compensate employees affected by Horizon.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke out, calling the initial sentences “appalling injustice.”

The post Bad software sent post workers to jail appeared first on Creative Programming.