Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells faced tough questioning on her first day in the witness box at the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal. Vennells, who was in charge from 2012 to 2019, is accused by sub-postmasters of presiding over a cover-up that led to the wrongful prosecution of over 700 sub-postmasters. Many of these individuals faced financial ruin and some even took their own lives.
Outside the hearing, Alan Bates, the chief campaigner for justice in the scandal, stated that he has “no sympathy” for Vennells. He dismissed her apology, in which he was mentioned by name, as “just words”. This was just one highlight in a day full of tough questions for Vennells.
During her testimony, Vennells admitted that her key failing was being “too trusting” of those working under her. She claimed that their responses to her questions guided her handling of the accounting software debacle. However, it was revealed that her former colleague, Dame Moya Greene, did not believe Vennells’ claims of ignorance about the extent of flaws with Fujitsu’s Horizon software.
In a text to Vennells in January of this year, Dame Moya expressed her disbelief at Vennells’ denials of any wrongdoing. She stated that the Post Office should have raised a red flag when it became clear that the system was at fault and stopped all proceedings. She also suggested that the Post Office should have compensated those affected by the scandal.
Vennells maintained during her testimony that she was not aware of the extent of the issues with Horizon. However, this was met with skepticism by sub-postmasters in attendance at the hearing, as well as those listening in at the Fenny Compton village hall. Sally Stringer, a former sub-postmaster, told reporters that Vennells was “blatantly, utterly lying” and that it needed to stop.
Lead barrister for the inquiry, Jason Beer KC, questioned Vennells about her 798-page witness statement, stating that it took seven months to write and was “fulsome”. He accused her of adopting a “wait and see” approach, only admitting to wrongdoing once evidence was presented. Vennells denied this, stating that she was simply given a large number of questions by the inquiry and had to go through hundreds of thousands of documents.
During her emotional testimony, Vennells broke down in tears multiple times. This included when details were read out about sub-postmasters who were not convicted due to flaws with Horizon. She also faced questions about her testimony to Parliament in 2015, where she stated there was “no evidence” of “miscarriages of justice”.
There were also moments of levity in the hearing, such as when Mr. Beer asked Vennells if she was “the unluckiest CEO in the United Kingdom”. This was in reference to her claim that she was not given certain documents and was assured by Post Office staff.
Mr. Beer also questioned Vennells about her better memory of events and records that made her and the Post Office look good, compared to her weaker recollection of things that made her and the organization look bad. Vennells denied this, stating that it was not her approach.
The inquiry also delved into Vennells’ approval of a £300,000 legal bill to prosecute Lee Castleton, a victim featured in the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. The former managing director, Alan Cook, testified earlier this month that Vennells approved these costs for a supposed £25,000 shortfall when she was a network director at the Post Office.
