Ex-minister: We were misled by Paula Vennells on Horizon scandal
FORMER Post Office boss Paula Vennells has been accused of misleading the Government by claiming there was no evidence sub-postmasters had been wrongfully convicted.
Ex-Post Office minister Jo Swinson claims she was “misled” in a letter to her by Ms Vennells in March 2015.
The letter read the “Post Office has found no reason to conclude that any prosecution was unsafe”.
This was despite being told a year earlier by the law firm reviewing prosecutions that there were problems with at least 26 cases.
In the letter obtained by ITV News, Ms Vennells also wrote: “No evidence has been found through these investigations of any system-wide issues with Horizon.”
ITV News said it also obtained a recording of a meeting attended by Ms Vennells in July 2013.
It is said to show she was told by independent investigators from Second Sight about potential issues with Horizon, as well as allegations that branch accounts could be remotely accessed by staff at Fujitsu HQ in Bracknell, Berkshire.
Ms Vennells was also warned by Second Sight’s Ian Henderson and Ron Warmington that the firm’s position denying any problems was potentially “dangerous” and “stupid”.
In another recording from December 2013, Post Office General Counsel Chris
Aujard was told of evidence suggesting “unsafe” and “wrongful” convictions.
He was told some subpostmasters were pressured into guilty pleas and denied potentially crucial evidence to defend themselves.
In a third recording from August 2014, senior Post Office executives were heard refusing to hand over potentially key documents to investigators relating to remote access at Fujitsu.
Ms Swinson told ITV News the letter shows Ms Vennells “misled” the Government when claiming there was no evidence of unsafe prosecutions, and the secret recordings “were at odds with what I was being told” at the time.
Barrister Simon Clarke told the Post Office in July 2013 that evidence used to prosecute sub-postmasters based on the assertion that “there is nothing wrong with the Horizon system” was untrue.
In 2014, law firm Cartwright King reviewed case files of prosecuted sub-postmasters and found 26 were potentially unsafe as key evidence had not been disclosed in them.
Ms Vennells said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.
“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.
“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”
A statement given on behalf of Mr Aujard said: “Chris has been called as a witness to the inquiry and fully supports its role but whilst the process is ongoing, he is unable to comment further.”
More than 900 subpostmasters were convicted as the Post Office insisted there were no IT issues, blaming sub-postmasters for financial losses.