Police will deploy 80 detectives for criminal inquiry into Horizon scandal: Probe will examine if senior leaders at Post Office and Fujitsu committed perjury or perverted course of justice

The huge police inquiry into the Post Office scandal will use 80 detectives and be on the scale of a 'major murder or terrorism investigation', it has been reported.

But while over 20 potential suspects at both the Post Office and Fujitsu have already been identified, decisions on whether charges will be brought are unlikely before 2026, The Guardian first reported.

And while the police have already asked for extra funding from government to the tune of £6.75m to fund the huge operation, investigators are yet to be recruited to staff the probe, it added.

Scotland Yard's Commander Stephen Clayman said in a statement: 'We understand the widespread and devastating impact the Post Office IT Horizon scandal has had on hundreds of sub-postmasters across the country.

 'The Met began a criminal investigation in January 2020 focused on offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

'A team of detectives has been painstakingly working through millions of documents manually and with the help of specialist software, in parallel with the Public Inquiry.

'This is very time consuming and we cannot cut corners and risk missing evidence.

'Given the significant scale of the investigation, it has been agreed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) that the next phase of the investigation will be a national policing effort, coordinated by the Met, with the pursuit of justice at its heart.

'We do not underestimate the seriousness of the task at hand and we are determined to carry out a full investigation with independence, precision and integrity.'

Perjury and perverting the course of justice have been been identified as possible offences in a scandal which resulted in more than 900 Post Office operators being prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting between 1999 and 2015 due to the faulty Horizon software wrongly making it look as though money was missing from their branches.

And while many had to wait decades to clear their name - or even died before they could see it happen - the further wait for any potential criminal trials is due to police having to take into account the full conclusions of the inquiry before finally handing over their files of evidence to prosecutors. 

The inquiry says it plans to issue its report in 2025, and the police will need until the following year to complete their work, they say. Even if the CPS do bring charges, there will then be a further wait for any charges to reach trial. 

Last week, former Post Office boss Paula Vennells wept while giving evidence at the Horizon inquiry after insisting that she 'loved' the company.

The shamed 65-year-old also told the hearing in London that there are 'no words' that will make the 'sorrow and what people have gone through any better'.

Ms Vennells - who insisted she 'worked as hard as I possibly could' - broke down in tears today, after doing the same on the first day of her evidence on Wednesday. 

She became emotional as she told the inquiry: 'I loved the Post Office, I gave it… I worked as hard as I possibly could to deliver the best Post Office for the UK.

'What I failed to do was I failed to recognise … the imbalance of power between the institution and the individual. I let these people down - I am very aware of that.'

But Ms Vennells was accused of being in 'la-la land' and responsible for her own downfall during questioning by Edward Henry KC. 

Also last week, MPs finally approved a Bill to quash the convictions of theft, fraud, false accounting and other offences against sub-postmasters, and scrub cautions frmo their records.

The Bill will apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, affecting those who were prosecuted by the Post Office, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or Northern Ireland authorities in the years 1996 to 2018.

The Scottish Parliament will pass its own law to a similar effect north of the border, because of Scotland's distinct legal system.