Inquiry told nothing that showed Paula Vennells acted in bad faith, lawyer says

The Horizon IT inquiry has heard nothing which showed ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells “acted in bad faith”, her legal team has said.

In her closing submissions to the inquiry on Tuesday, Samantha Leek KC said Ms Vennells has “no desire to point fingers at others”, but added: “Ms Vennells still does not know why key information was not passed on to her and explained.”

During her evidence to the investigation in May, the former Post Office chief executive admitted she had “no-one to blame” but herself for what happened during the Horizon scandal.

Ms Vennells, 65, an ordained priest, denied leading the Post Office through “deception” and “manipulation”, during her evidence, and claimed she was “noted” within the Post Office for “caring about subpostmasters”.

More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.

Hundreds are still awaiting compensation despite the previous government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

Ms Leek told chairman Sir Wyn Williams that Ms Vennells “wanted to do right by the subpostmasters” but “understands the strength of feeling about her”.

In her closing statement, she said: “Ms Vennells understands the strength of feeling about her – that of subpostmasters, those directly affected by the wrongful convictions, and that of the public.

“She heard what was said yesterday about apologies being difficult to hear, and she understands that position.

“She knows that any apology will offer little comfort to those affected.

“She cannot and does not try to hide from the fact that whilst CEO, she did not manage to uncover the truth about the extent oof the bugs, errors and defects in Horizon, as found by Mr Justice Fraser.

“This is a matter of deep and constant regret to Ms Vennells, as is the fact that the convictions of the subpostmasters were not overturned sooner.”

Ms Leek continued: “Sir, Ms Vennells simply did not receive the information which she ought to have been given by her senior team, whom she trusted, and to whom she delegated responsible roles, as she said herself in her evidence to you.

“Ms Vennells still does not know why key information was not passed on to her and explained.

“She believed her senior team and general counsel to be working hard and doing their best to investigate the subpostmasters’ complaints in good faith.

“She had faith in them and, as far as she was concerned, had good working relationships with them.

“She is devastated by the fact that information was not shared with her.”

Ms Leek added: “She has no desire to point the finger at others, nor to speculate as to why information was not shared.

“She trusts that you, sir, together with your panel, will establish the true extent of the information that was not shared and perhaps why it was not shared.

“Throughout Ms Vennells’ written and oral evidence, and born out throughout the documents and evidence of others which have been adduced during the inquiry, we submit that there has been nothing to show that Ms Vennells acted in bad faith.

“Ms Vennells wanted to do right by the subpostmasters.”

The Horizon IT Inquiry was sitting for its final day since hearings first began in 2022.

Bringing proceedings to a close on Tuesday, Sir Wyn told those in attendance his final report was “without doubt many months away”, and did not know when it would be published.