Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells breaks down during grilling at Horizon inquiry
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells broke down at the Horizon IT inquiry as she was grilled over evidence she gave to MPs at a previous panel – and whether she misled them over the scandal.
Victims of the enormous miscarriage of justice have waited ten years for the ex-CEO to speak in public for the first time since its full scale was revealed.
More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 over apparent missing money at their branches which was, in fact, the fault of faulty accounting software.
Ms Vennells began her three days in front of the inquiry with apologies to the affected staff and their families, and to specific individuals including the campaigner Alan Bates.
After Jason Beer KC listed all the bugs and incidents she denied awareness of in her witness statement, he asked her if she believed there was a conspiracy at the Post Office to deny her information and falsely give her reassurance.
She responded: ‘I may be wrong but that wasn’t the impression that I had at the time, I have more questions now but a conspiracy feels too far-fetched.’
Later, Ms Vennells was asked about evidence she gave to parliamentarians in 2015, when she made the untrue claim that every prosecution involving Horizon had been successful at that point.
Her voice broke and she reached for a tissue as she said: ‘I fully accept now that the Post Office… the Post Office knew that. I completely accept it.
‘Personally, I didn’t know that and I’m incredibly sorry that happened to those people and to so many others.’
She later struggled considerably when describing talking to the families of sub-postmasters who had taken their own lives in the wake of the scandal.
She was surrounded by photographers and journalists as she made her way into Aldwych House in central London this morning.
The level of attention paid to the inquiry, which launched in January 2020, has skyrocketed following the enormous success of ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office earlier this year.
Within a week of the final episode airing, Ms Vennells – who was played by Lia Williams on the show – announced she would be handing back the CBE she was awarded in 2019.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also soon announced new legislation to exonerate sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal.
The law, which applies only to England and Wales, is expected to come into effect at the end of July. Emergency legislation is also being introduced by the Scottish Government.
Hundreds of victims are still waiting to receive compensation despite the announcement of £600,000 payouts last September.
Some have died in the meantime.
Around 180 postmasters are present in the gallery of the hearing room at Aldwych House, completely filling the space.
One of them, Lee Castleton, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was not looking for an apology from the ex-CEO.
He said: ‘I think the days have gone a long, long time ago that it makes any difference to me personally… I’m just looking forward to the truth.’
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