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Post Office inquiry live: Paula Vennells denies shielding board from 'dirty laundry' - BBC News Post Office inquiry live: Paula Vennells denies shielding board from 'dirty laundry' - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Sam Hancock It's been a heavy, technical afternoon at the Post Office inquiry as Jason Beer KC grilled Paula Vennells for the second day.
Reporting from the inquiry Here's a look back at what was said:
Whenever Alan Bates' name is mentioned in the inquiry room - particularly when it involves letters or emails he's sent - people's ears prick up. Vennells denied trying to offer only a "meagre sum and apology" to sub-postmasters without investigating the cause of their problems
Shortly before the inquiry closed up, we were shown an email from 2012 that Bates sent to George Thomson, former head of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters union, about the upcoming Second Sight investigation into issues with Horizon. It's here: She apologised for her decision to call the Horizon issues "exceptions" or "anomalies", saying they should have been called 'bugs'
We've also been shown that the email was then forwarded by Thomson to the Post Office's Nick Beal - with Vennells lopped in - calling Bates' words "rubbish". She also rejected that the company's executive team, which she led, shielded the board from "dirty laundry" - instead saying that she felt "very strongly" about the board being able to challenge her
"I will tell him Horizon is secure and robust and to go away," Thomson adds in his forwarding of the email to Beal. I note some low-level gasps in the room. Vennells also denied that concerns from her media adviser about negative news coverage influenced her decision on whether to review five to 10 years' worth of past prosecutions
In the midst of giving her thoughts on the email to the inquiry, Beer suggests it's in fact Thomson's email that's "rubbish". She said she did not try to close down a review into the Horizon software that led to wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters
Amid laughs and scoffs from the audience, Vennells says that, with hindsight, she agrees. This week is the first time Vennells has publicly spoken about her role in the scandal for nearly a decade.
She will be back at the inquiry for one more day tomorrow.
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