CoRecursive: Coding Stories Story: Risk Rolls Downhill - The Software Bug That Sent People to Prison
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Oct 2, 2025 Scott Darlington, a former sub-postmaster whose life was turned upside down by a software bug in the Horizon system, shares his harrowing story. He discusses the devastating impact of accounting discrepancies that led to wrongful prosecution. The conversation dives into the design flaws of Horizon and how its shortcomings led to significant financial losses. Scott reflects on the human cost of a system that prioritized process over people, the failures of oversight, and the long-lasting effects of his wrongful conviction.
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Buying A Post Office For Stability
- Scott counted customers for days before buying a village post office and invested his savings and a mortgage to take it over.
- He expected a steady business but soon discovered Horizon, the terminal software, causing problems he couldn't see coming.
Small Glitches Became Personal Debts
- Horizon reported small shortfalls that the Post Office required sub-postmasters to reimburse immediately.
- Scott paid minor amounts at first, then faced escalating, terrifying shortfalls driven by the terminal's ledger.
Queued Messages Create Ghost Transactions
- Horizon's offline, queued messaging could replay transactions after freezes, creating duplicate entries.
- Those duplicate entries produced "ghost" stamps or deposits that looked like real cash on the ledger but didn't exist physically.
