ISSUE 54 EWJ web - Journal - Page 51
This item therefore tracks a series of causal links
between elements of a scandal constructed on abuse of
process and a corporate governance disaster. We lead
up to and examine reasons why former post office investigators et al even now see it necessary to resist the
need for integrity despite being presented with cogent
evidence of their previous conduct. It all includes alleged perjury, perverting the course of justice, and
ironically, fraud.
5. Illusion of Unanimity. That the majority view and
judgments of ‘the group’ are unanimous. This surely
extended to well-intending defending lawyers also
who advised clients to plead guilty.
6. Mind Guards. Certain groupthink ‘members’
appoint themselves as mentors to protect the group
and group leader from information they deem ‘problematic’ or contradict the group’s decisions in that
bizarre cohesiveness.
‘Under the ‘Horizon’
The crux of the matter is an IT accounts system called
‘Horizon’ installed by the Post Office in 1999. It was
riddled with technical faults. Designed by the ‘Fujitsu’
company, the system produced false data; non-existent ‘shortfalls’ in postmasters’ on-site computer terminals. Hence, this scandal centres on a powerful
‘reputation-first’ cultural mantra. Despite Post Office
management having full knowledge of this faulty system, they pushed a diktat that the system was ‘robust
and reliable’ when it was not. Consequently, postmasters were persecuted. Had their lives destroyed by a
grotesque prosecutions policy that saw innocent people put in prison. Others were bankrupted, lost their
homes, made unemployable because of false criminal
convictions for theft and false accounting. Most horribly, some postmasters took their own lives with the
stress of ‘gaslighting’ bullying and direct threats made
by Post Office managers and lawyers.
In essence, adverse Groupthink values a sordid
harmony and coherence over accurate analysis and
critical thinking. The fallout from that was pre-emptive bias being grounded in at the outset. Best practices were in reality ‘worst practices’ 736 times over.
The Investigations. ‘Reverse Criminality’
We now examine metrics of the conduct of the
investigations. This was ‘Groupthink’ and conspiratorial-dominant behaviours at work that set investigations off in a tribalistic direction.
One example is Post Office ‘technicians’ who altered
the data of postmasters’ terminals remotely; tantamount to ‘planting’ evidence of theft. That, was compounded by other professional conduct failings and
behavioural anomalies by PO investigators. These included CPIA (disclosure) violations, fabricating evidence, ‘interrogations’ involving threats and insults.
Even ABDUCTION to get people into interview
rooms – and locking them in. Destroying defence-related evidence (shredding documents that proved
faults in the Horizon system). Added to threatening
phone-calls, and other intimidation by investigators
hounding postmasters.
Groupthink
… ‘When all think alike, then no-one is thinking’ …
Walter Lippman
‘Groupthink’ is an entity that is either productive of
encouraging healthy team synergies and culture, or
to the extreme opposite, immeasurably dangerous.
The Post Office Executive along with its corporate
partner, Fujitsu, are firmly set in the latter context.
“I Cannot Recall” Dismantled
Investigative psychologists referring to the term
’schema’ probe decisions that either predispose a criminal act or conduct designed to conceal it. With this
(statutory) inquiry in view, a “cannot recall” reply is
not a “gap in memory” but output of one’s decision to
say those words. We need to ‘get behind the words’ to
reveal those inquiry witnesses with patently dishonest
cognitive-linguistic propensities, or those prone to impulsive situational truth-masking verbiage when
cross-examined.
American psychologist Irving Janis described key
symptoms of groupthink:
1. Invulnerability. Members of ‘the group’ share an
illusion of invulnerability of being non-accountable no
matter the level of ‘team-corruption’ applied. That,
creates excessive optimism and encourages taking abnormal risks. The abuse of process shows brazen legal
risk-taking. (Influenced ‘from above’ at the Post
Office?)
Granted there may be an occasional PO / Fujitsu
witness affected by confabulation (an often-chronic
mental condition affecting memory ‘replacement’ not to be confused with 'Groupthink')
2. Rationale. Group ‘players’ ignore warnings and
negative feedback (i.e., complaints about the Horizon
system) that could cause ‘the group’ to reconsider their
previous assumptions.
Important also, is that responses under oath in a
statutory inquiry are not interviews under caution.
An inquiry, be it fact-finding, is not ‘obtaining evidence
by questioning' like law enforcement (PACE 1984) to
charge an offence. But lying about material facts
under oath is prima-facie perjury. So, can an “I can’t
recall" utterance be evidentially viable, sufficient to
establish a case of perjury by itself?
3. Stereotyping. ‘The group’ (i.e., post office lawyers,
investigators, auditors, management, Fujitsu managers) possessed bigoted, prejudicial views of their
“enemies.” Rationalising their own prejudices instead
of the evidence.
4. Pressure. The group apply direct pressure to ANY
individual who momentarily expresses concern or
doubt about the group’s shared views. (One who ‘isn’t
on board’)
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
Moving wider, what inferences with cogent evidential
weight can be drawn from supposedly not being able to
"recall" tangible metrics, adverse routines and time and
event detail occurring during one’s professional role?
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APRIL 2024