23 May 2024 , 20:59
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Groans, jeers and laughter erupted at the public inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal as Paula Vennells gave her second day of evidence.
The disgraced chief executive denied failing to review suspect prosecutions of sub-postmasters because it would be bad for PR and end up in the papers. The public gallery at the Horizon Inquiry, which included many wrongly accused victims, scoffed “Oh, come on!” as Ms Vennells said she hadn’t put brand image ahead of miscarriages of justice.
But the former PostOffice boss did admit that ten years of miscarriages could have been avoided if a review had been carried out into all false accounting prosecutions. Vennells, 65, was confronted about a “grossly improper” email sent to her in 2013 by her director of communications, Mark Davies.
It warned: “If we say publicly that we will look at past cases we will open this up very significantly into front page news. The writer feared such an admission would have a “ballistic’ impact” and “could lead to a very public narrative about the very nature of the business”.
Paula Vennells crying while she was being questioned (Sky News)The inquiry heard that Ms Vennells replied: “Thanks for this and I don’t think we are too far apart. I will take your steer.” Inquiry lawyer Jason Beer KC challenged her: ‘You did take the advice of the PR guy didn’t you?” Her reply: “I really don’t remember it relating to the decision,” promp-ted the gallery to erupt in disbelief.
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Chairman Sir Wyn Williams had to intervene, calling for quiet. After a pause Vennells went on: “I absolutely don’t accept that I took a decision to not review past criminal cases based on media outcome. It’s simply not the way I worked, to have taken a decision based on one colleague. My way of working was to take as many views as I could.”
Around 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015. They took the blame for a faulty computer system which made it look like money was missing from their branches. Some were jailed and many suffered financial ruin. Some have since died.
Paula Vennells pictured arriving at the inquiry in central London (PA)Ms Vennells was in charge from 2012 to 2019, when bosses continued to deny the Horizon software was to blame despite mounting evidence. She denied her executives shielded the board from “dirty laundry”.
“I never once withheld information from the board. I was very aware I was not a legal expert or an IT expert.I relied on the board. I took feedback and challenge and valued it.” Vennells was challenged several times about wanting only two or three cases looked at to see if there were system failures. She denied this but admitted it was “possibly” a hope of the Post Office that a mediation scheme with sub-postmasters would “minimise compensation”.
Mr Beer: “You never intended to pay out any substantial figures, did you?” Vennells: “No, that’s right. Not in terms of the mediation scheme, because that was not what I had understood it would do. Mr Beer: “You wanted every-one to get the bare minimum, forget all of this and move on, didn’t you?” Vennells: “No.” Near the end of yesterday’s grilling Vennells began crying again after telling how she had to step back in 2019 because of a “family situation” which involved hospital visits. She will will continue her evidence today.