Software Bugs Lead to One of Britain's Biggest Miscarriages of Justice
2025-01-09
Nearly 1,000 UK post office managers were wrongly convicted of theft between 1999 and 2015 due to flaws in Fujitsu's Horizon accounting software. Poor coding, inadequate testing, and expanding functionality led to bugs causing account discrepancies, resulting in imprisonment, financial ruin, and even suicides. The convictions were overturned in 2024, and a compensation scheme was launched. This case highlights the devastating societal impact of software failures and the critical need for rigorous software development practices.