Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells has been urged to “speak truth” by former subpostmasters as she arrived for the first of three days of dramatic testimony at the Horizon IT scandal inquiry. More than 700 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as a result of Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system – which made it appear as though money was missing at their branches. Seema Misra, who was jailed in 2010 while pregnant after being accused of stealing £74,000, and Lee Castleton – who was bankrupted after losing his legal battle over a false £25,000 shortfall – both urged Ms Vennells to reveal the truth over the scandal, with the latter warning: “The world’s watching.” And Jo Hamilton, who was falsely accused of stealing £36,000 from the branch she ran in Hampshire, told The Independent: “I’m expecting nothing from her, to be honest. But I would love her to give the postmasters the truth they deserve.” Ms Vennells has not yet spoken in detail about her role in the scandal, but previously apologised for the “devastation caused to subpostmasters and their families”.
Post Office inquiry live today: Paula Vennells told to ‘speak truth’ as she gives Horizon scandal evidence
Paula Vennells arrives at Post Office Horizon IT inquiry
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Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells has been urged to “speak truth” by former subpostmasters as she arrived for the first of three days of dramatic testimony at the Horizon IT scandal inquiry.
More than 700 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as a result of Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system – which made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Seema Misra, who was jailed in 2010 while pregnant after being accused of stealing £74,000, and Lee Castleton – who was bankrupted after losing his legal battle over a false £25,000 shortfall – both urged Ms Vennells to reveal the truth over the scandal, with the latter warning: “The world’s watching.”
And Jo Hamilton, who was falsely accused of stealing £36,000 from the branch she ran in Hampshire, told The Independent: “I’m expecting nothing from her, to be honest. But I would love her to give the postmasters the truth they deserve.”
Ms Vennells has not yet spoken in detail about her role in the scandal, but previously apologised for the “devastation caused to subpostmasters and their families”.
Key Points
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Paula Vennells apologises to victims of Horizon scandal as she begins testimony
Paula Vennells has intervened to ask if she may begin with an apology to Alan Bates and other subpostmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.
The former Post Office chief executive said: “I would just like to say … how sorry I am for all that subpostmasters and their families and others have suffered as a result of all the matters the inquiry has been looking into for so long.
“I followed and listened to all of the human impact statements and was very affected by them.”
She added: “I am very, very sorry. I would also like to repeat the apology which is in my witness statemet to Alan Bates, to Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson from Second Sight, and to Lord Arbuthnott – and those I worked with made their life so much harder and I am very, very sorry for that.
“My third apology is really about today, because I will answer the questions truthfully and I am very aware that they will be difficult to listen to – for you and for me – and I ask your understanding in advance of that.”
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 10:01
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Paula Vennells sworn in and vows to ‘answer all the questions’ posed
Paula Vennells has been sworn in at the inquiry, where chair Sir Wyn Williams has reminded her that she may object to questioning under the privilege against self-incrimination.
“Under our law, a witness at the public inquiry has the right to decline to answer a question put to her by counsel to the inquiry, by any legal representative, or by me, if there is a risk that the answer to that question would incriminate the witness,” said Sir Wyn.
Ms Vennells said: “I plan to answer all the questions.”
Andy Gregory, Archie Mitchell22 May 2024 09:52
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Vennells told: ‘Give postmasters the truth they deserve’
Paula Vennells has been told to “give postmasters the truth they deserve” by Jo Hamilton, who was falsely accused of stealing £36,000 from the Post Office branch she ran in South Warnborough, Hampshire.
She pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of false accounting to avoid going to jail and was prosecuted in 2006.
Ahead of Ms Vennells’ appearance at the inquiry, she told The Independent: “I’m expecting nothing from her, to be honest.
“But I would love her to give the postmasters the truth they deserve.”
Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent22 May 2024 09:48
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Subpostmaster jailed while pregnant urges Paula Vennells to ‘speak truth’
Former subpostmaster Seema Misra – who was jailed in 2010 while pregnant after being accused of stealing £74,000 at her branch in Surrey – has also called on Paula Vennells to “speak truth”.
Asked what she would say to Ms Vennells, Ms Misra told the PA news agency outside Aldwych House on Wednesday: “Please, for god’s sake, speak truth. That’s what we all deserve, we’ve been fighting such a long time… we want to know exactly what happened.”
She said she “of course” feels strongly about what Ms Vennells is going to tell the inquiry, adding: “We’ve heard her name so many times.”
Ms Misra said that no matter what happens, “we won’t give up”.
Seema Misra with her husband Davinder outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2021 (Yui Mok/PA)
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 09:28
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Former Post Office secretary asked if she will give back her OBE
Former Post Office company seretary Alwen Lyons has been asked whether she will also hand back the OBE she received in 2018, after Paula Vennells offered to do so earlier this year.
Ms Lyons was questioned by Channel 4 chief correspondent Alex Thomson as she left the Horizon inquiry yesterday afternoon.
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 09:24
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Paula Vennells answers no media questions as she arrives at inquiry
Paula Vennells arrived at 7.45am and did not answer any questions as she walked a short distance up to the venue, escorted by police.
Her evidence is expected to start at 10am.
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 09:03
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‘The world is listening’: Former subpostmaster hoping to hear ‘the truth’ from Paula Vennells
Former subpostmaster Lee Castleton – who was made bankrupt after he lost his legal battle over a false £25,000 shortfall at his branch in 2004 – said he is “really looking forward” to hearing Paula Vennells’ evidence.
“I’m really looking forward to listen to what she has to say,” he told the PA news agency outside Aldwych House. “It’s a good platform for her to finally speak. She’s not been able to, for whatever reason, speak for all these years. I think it’s important that she is listened to and heard and then we can all judge that.”
Mr Castleton said he was hoping to hear “the truth”, adding: “Let’s hear what, why and when, and who – who was involved in those decisions, why those decisions were made. And let’s listen to the other side of what we’ve heard already, which is the impact of those decisions, to hear what the reasons for those decisions were.”
Asked what message he would send to Ms Vennells if he could, Mr Castleton said: “This is your chance to put it out there. The world’s listening, if you like. Do what you feel is right.”
Lee Castleton went bankrupt after losing his Post Office legal battle (GMB/ITV)
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 08:50
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Watch: Paula Vennells escorted by police as she arrives at Post Office inquiry
Paula Vennells arrives at Post Office Horizon IT inquiry
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 08:46
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Post Office inquiry set for explosive three days of evidence by former boss
Today will likely prove to be the first of three explosive days at the Post Office inquiry, as Paula Vennells is questioned for the first time over the Horizon scandal.
Subpostmasters will be watching closely as the former Post Office boss faces questions over her role in the scandal which saw hundreds of Post Office staff wrongly prosecuted over bugs which made it appear that money at their branches was missing.
Ms Vennells has not yet spoken in detail about her role in the scandal, but previously apologised for the “devastation caused to subpostmasters and their families”.
She is expected be quizzed on her knowledge of the ability to remotely access the Horizon system – and whether she believed there were any miscarriages of justice during her tenure.
Paula Vennells is scheduled to give evidence over the course of three days ( Jeremy Durkin/PA)
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 08:40
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Paula Vennells escorted by police as she arrives to testify at inquiry
Paula Vennells has arrived at Aldwych House to give evidence at the Post Office inquiry.
Police officers had previously asked media to ensure there was a clear path for Paula Vennells to enter the building.
But she was surrounded by press as she exited a car a short way from the venue and was eventually escorted by police.
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells will give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House ( Yui Mok/PA)
Andy Gregory22 May 2024 08:20
Read the full story on www.independent.co.uk
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/post-office-inquiry-paula-vennells-horizon-live-today-b2549229.html