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Post Office inquiry live: Lawyer returns to inquiry for second day of grilling - BBC News Post Office inquiry live: Lawyer returns to inquiry for second day of grilling - BBC News
(about 1 hour later)
Here's a quick profile of Post Office lawyer Rodric Williams to bring you up to speed as he gives evidence for a second day at the inquiry: Theo Leggett
Williams joined the the Post Office as a litigation lawyer in 2012, a period in which it was continuing to prosecute sub-postmasters. Business correspondent
Since then he has risen through the ranks to become the company's current head of legal for dispute resolution and brand. More
This role means he is in charge of Post Office's Remediation Unit - which deals with appeals from sub-postmasters, as well as the compensation and redress schemes. difficult questioning for Rodric Williams at the inquiry this morning.
But in his witness statement submitted to the inquiry, Williams said he transferred these responsibilities to other lawyers within the unit in April 2022. To
kick off, he was asked what he knew about advice from an external lawyer
working for the Post Office that minutes of a conference call may have been
destroyed – and potentially shredded.
In
particular, he was asked – repeatedly – what action he had taken to ensure such
an allegation was fully investigated.
His
initial answer? “I don’t know what you mean by fully investigated.”
That
led to a tetchy exchange with the inquiry counsel, Jason Beer KC.
Beer repeatedly pressed him over whether any investigations had been carried
out at all.
Williams admitted such allegations should have been investigated, but had they?
He didn’t know.
Later,
attention turned to a Deloitte report on the reliability of the Horizon It
system, commissioned by Williams.
We
were shown an email, in which he told the firm how the Post Office wanted to
respond to allegations the system was faulty, and show it was robust and fit
for purpose.
He
was asked whether he was pre-empting the report’s conclusions.
His
response was that there are many things people want, but they don’t always get
them.
Beer: “Is that your best answer?”
Later, he was asked about his involvement in inaccurate
statements being given to the BBC and to the forensic accountants Second Sight
about the integrity of Horizon.
At the time, the Post Office claimed Horizon could not be
remotely accessed – but Beer presented an email and a report which made it
clear remote access was possible.
Williams admitted he had made a mistake – and that lines
prepared for the media were inaccurate.
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