20 January 2024 , 20:33
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Shameless Paula Vennells boogied to Pixie Lott at a staff knees-up as the Post Office fought a legal case by sub-postmasters wrongly jailed for theft.
The Post Office boss was filmed with fellow top brass at the expenses-paid company bash at a five-star hotel. Ms Vennells partied with predecessor Alan Cook, who oversaw the wrongful prosecution of 161 sub-postmasters and the imprisonment of 57.
There too was Kevin Gilliland, head of retail at the height of the scandal. And there was an invite for Angela Van Den Bogerd, a dogged advocate of faulty Horizon software blamed for wrongful convictions. Tonight Seema Misra, who was pregnant when she was wrongly jailed, said: “This is utterly shameful.”
Paula Vennells can be seen twirling around on the dancefloorThe Surrey sub-postmistress, 48, added: “I can’t believe it – people lost their lives and these people are out there partying. Every time I think I have heard it all, something new emerges, it’s disgusting. In 2017 I was struggling to make ends meet and my youngest didn’t even celebrate his birthday, and these people are out having a party.”
The damning footage was taken at the Post Office’s Retail Sales Awards, where top performing staff get gongs. Ms Vennells was filmed twirling on stage and singing along to Pixie’s raunchy lyrics during the glittery event at the Hilton Hotel on London’s Park Lane. Four-time Brit Award nominee Pixie – whose hits include Nasty and What Do You Take Me For? – reportedly charged around £25,000 for corporate gigs at the time.
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Dancing to her number one single Kiss the Stars, the then 58-year-old Ms Vennells grinned and showed off her moves in a smart white dress. The bash was on June 10, 2017 – three months after she provided “inaccurate and misleading” information to the High Court during legal action by whistleblower Alan Bates and 555 sub-postmasters.
His campaign against the Post Office’s merciless injustice spawned ITV hit drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, starring Toby Jones, which sparked a massive outcry, forcing Ms Vennells to hand back her CBE. But in a speech to kickstart the evening, Ms Vennells, described it as “representing the best values of modern Britain.”
Partygoers were videoed glugging champagne and making quick work of a gourmet three-course meal, featuring butternut squash tartines. It is the first time footage has emerged of bosses letting loose since the scandal – first brought to the company’s attention in 2010. The clip was proudly posted by the Post Office on its website but later vanished.
Post Office bosses were treated to a private performance by Pixie LottToday a second wrongly convicted sub-postmaster, Mark Kelly, 45, from Swansea, was incensed at the footage. He said: “Nothing surprises me with the Post Office and this just further proves Ms Vennells has no moral compass.”
Ms Vennells, an Anglican priest, pocketed more than £4.5million while chief executive from 2012 to 2019.
The video emerged after a dramatic week at the Post Office inquiry. Fujitsu European boss Paul Patterson admitted it knew of faults for “many, many years”, calling the tragedy an “appalling miscarriage” that has broken trust in technology.
HMRC is probing the PO after experts claimed it may have underpaid £100m in tax after deducting victims’ payments from its profits.
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake said he wants those behind the scandal jailed. And ex-postmistress Yvonne Tracey has vowed to run against Lib Dem leader and Kingston and Surbiton MP Sir Ed Davey in the general election, in protest over his former role as Post Office Minister.
The Post Office declined to comment about the video.