A FORMER top Post Office lawyer who oversaw Alan Bates’s High Court battle against the business is refusing to co-operate with the statutory inquiry. Jane MacLeod, who was the organisation’s general counsel from 2015 to 2019, was listed to appear next month, but her name later disappeared from the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry schedule. The Telegraph understands she is living in New Zealand and is refusing to appear in-person or by videolink to assist the inquiry. While the inquiry has statutory powers, it cannot compel her to give evidence while she is abroad. Ms MacLeod held the top legal role while the Post Office sought to win a High Court case against Mr Bates, former sub-postmaster, and 554 of his peers. More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 as a result of the Horizon scandal, which saw the faulty software incorrectly recorded shortfalls in their accounts. Mr Bates went on to win the case, with his campaign to expose bugs, errors and defects in the Horizon system going on to inspire the ITV drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The revelation of Ms MacLeod’s refusal to co-operate came as Jason Beer KC, the...