Post Office boss ‘overruled proposal to stop prosecutions’
THE former boss of the Post Office overruled senior management when they suggested halting prosecutions of sub-postmasters, the Horizon inquiry heard yesterday.
It was shown a document that described ex-chief executive Paula Vennells as “resiling” from the proposals in 2013.
Asked about a meeting attended by Ms Vennells, Chris Aujard, former top lawyer at the Post Office, said: “My recollection is that the executive committee were in favour of ceasing prosecutions entirely.”
But he said Ms Vennells had “interjected or made the comment” that the “Post Office should continue to take some prosecutions”.
More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 when Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.
Mr Aujard, the Post Office’s General Counsel from October 2013 to March 2015, apologised to sub-postmasters and their families for the “anguish and suffering” they have had to endure.
Asked if he had been aware of any issues with Horizon, he said he was told “there were no bug, errors or defects” apart from those identified in an audit report.
Auditors Second Sight released an interim report in July 2013 identifying bugs that raised concerns over the reliability of Horizon data used to prosecute sub-postmasters.
Susan Crichton, general counsel before Mr Aujard, told the inquiry the Post Office legal team had an “unhealthy view of sub-postmasters” as they pursued prosecutions against them.
She described the attitude of two other senior lawyers, Rob Wilson and Jarnail Singh, as “this is public money, we have to protect it”.
Hundreds of sub-postmasters are still awaiting compensation despite the Government saying those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.