William Quarm

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William Quarm was a sub-postmaster accused of embezzlement of £27,000 on the basis of evidence from the Horizon computer system. He was considered to have confessed to using funds from the post office to prop up his business both in correspondence with the post office and when interviewed by post office investigators. He initially pled not guilty. However, in a forensic accounting report that he instructed, an expert opined that the Horizon system was “watertight.” He changed his plea to guilty, apparently saying that this was “simply to get the matter resolved.” He is reported to have been haunted by feelings of shame as a result of the accusations against him and to have thought about taking his own life. His conviction was overturned, more than ten years after his death, when it became clear that evidence undermining Horizon had been suppressed and that bugs, errors, and defects in Horizon could, and did, cause discrepancies and shortfalls in branch accounts.

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