22 May 2024 , 11:43
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Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells' 'word salad' apology sounded 'like a recital', a body language expert has told the Mirror.
The former CEO is today being grilled at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Venells, 65, issued an apology to furious postmasters including Alan Bates, saying: "I am very, very sorry." When Ms Vennells was questioned on why she told MPs the Post Office was successful in every court case against postmasters, she began crying.
She paused and tried to compose herself, then said: "I fully accept now that the Post Office..." but broke off her answer to grab a tissue and held her head in her hands for a brief moment. Ms Vennells continued: "The Post Office knew that and I completely accepted. Personally, I didn't know that and I'm incredibly sorry that it happened to those people and to so many others."
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells at today's Horizon IT inquiry (PA)Body language expert Judi James described the apology as a ‘word salad’, adding: “The use of her diminishing word ‘just’ as Vennells launched into her apology at the start sucked some of the impact or authenticity out of her small speech. ‘I would just like to say’ made her apology sound like a speedy aside and she actually swung round to one side to make it as though getting it done before the main event.
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“A proper apology needs to be specific. Vennells apologised in a bit of a word salad ‘for all they have suffered as a result of all the matters the enquiry has been looking into…’ Her eyes looked down in a cut-off a couple of times.
“Vennells was also ‘very very sorry’ for making their work harder, which came with some accelerated blinking and another eye cut-off plus a delivery that sounded like a recital.
“Her ‘Third apology’ for anyone who likes their apologies to come in a neat list, sounded and looked like an attempt at empathy or even sympathy as she told how the question would be ‘difficult to listen to for you and for me’. She smacked her lips together and produced a rueful smile plus some baton head nods, asking for their ‘understanding of that’."
(Sky News)During the inquiry, Ms Vennells apologised for a comment she made to MPs in June 2012, in which she said subpostmasters had been “tempted to put their hands in the till” – adding that it was an “assumption” she made. She told the probe an email she sent to colleagues which suggested the company’s priority was to protect subpostmasters for whom the Horizon system was working, “reads badly today”.
Counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC questioned the former boss, asking: “Why were you telling these parliamentarians that every prosecution involving the Horizon system had been successful and had found in favour of the Post Office?” After a short pause in which she appeared to compose herself, Ms Vennells said: “I fully accept now that the Post Office…” She broke off her answer to grab a tissue and held her head in her hands for a brief moment before recomposing herself.
Vennells arriving at Aldwych House, central London to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry (PA)Ms Vennells continued: “The Post Office knew that and I completely accepted. Personally, I didn’t know that and I’m incredibly sorry that it happened to those people and to so many others.” Of her comment that subpostmasters were being led into temptation, Ms Vennells said: “That’s a more difficult one to talk about. The first thing I would say on that is to apologise because I’m very aware that that was not the case and it was an assumption I made.”
Hundreds of subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 after Horizon, owned by Fujitsu, made it look like money was going missing at their branches. Two Fujitsu experts are being investigated for perjury and perverting the course of justice – but there are yet to be any arrests made since the start of the inquiry in January 2020. Inquiry chairman Sir Wyn is due to complete a final report next year.
In the meantime, hundreds of subpostmasters are awaiting compensation, despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions overturned are eligible for £600,000 payouts