Moment shamed Post Office boss Paula Vennells dances to Pixie Lott with senior execs at staff party as sub-postmasters fought High Court legal case after being wrongly jailed for theft

This is the moment the Post Office boss Paula Vennells danced to Pixie Lott at a staff party as sub-postmasters were fighting a legal battle over being wrongly jailed.

The expenses-paid company event took place at a five-star hotel, where Ms Vennells danced with her predecessor Alan Cook – who was in charge when 161 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted, and 57 jailed.

Also filmed partying was Kevin Gilliland, who was head of retail in the midst of the scandal.

Angela Va Den Bogerd was also invited, who was a central figure in the Post Office scandal and an advocate of the faulty IT software. She quit her job in 2020 after the wrongful convictions gained the public’s attention.

Data from the Horizon IT system was used to prosecute up to 983 postmasters between 1999 and 2015, assuming the accounts were secure.

The revelation that remote access was possible during a High Court case in 2017 was the beginning of the route that eventually led to the Prime Minister announcing a new law to quash court convictions.

The lives of those who were wrongly prosecuted were ruined, with ‘wanted: dead or alive’ posters put up of their faces and their children being bullied.

It comes as ministers have ordered the Post Office to probe claims a second IT system could have also resulted in the wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters.

This is the moment the Post Office boss Paula Vennells danced to Pixie Lott at a staff party as sub-postmasters were fighting a legal battle over being wrongly jailed

Dancing to Kiss the Stars, Ms Vennells – then aged 58 – smiled as she partied in a white dress

It took place on June 10, 2017, which was three months after Ms Vennells provided evidence to the High Court which was labelled ‘inaccurate and misleading’

The shocking footage taken at the Post Office Retail Sales Awards showed Ms Vennells up on stage dancing and singing along to Pixie Lott’s lyrics at the Hilton Hotel.

The singer charged around £25,000 for corporate gigs at the time, according to the Mirror.

Dancing to Kiss the Stars, Ms Vennells – then aged 58 – smiled as she partied in a white dress. It took place on June 10, 2017, which was three months after she provided evidence to the High Court which was labelled ‘inaccurate and misleading’.

Ms Vennells, who faces accusations of covering up the Horizon scandal by refusing to properly investigate faults in the system, is facing a massive public backlash in the wake of ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.

Amid intensifying pressure, the 64-year-old mother of two, who was the Post Office’s chief executive between 2012 and 2019, announced she would hand back her CBE, awarded to her at the start of 2019.

The video footage – which was posted on the Post Office website but later taken down – shows those in attendance drinking champagne and gouging themselves on a three-course meal.

The singer charged around £25,000 for corporate gigs at the time, according to the Mirror

Those in attendance drank champagne and gouged themselves on a three-course meal

Seema Misra, a 48-year-old former sub-postmistress who was pregnant when she was wrongly jailed, told the Mirror: ‘This is utterly shameful. I can’t believe it – people lost their lives and these people are out there partying. Every time I think I have heard it all, something new emerges, it’s disgusting.’

Another wrongly convicted post-master, Mark Kelly, 45, added: ‘This just further proves Ms Vennells has no moral compass.’

The Post Office was already mired in the Horizon IT scandal when its deeply- religious chief executive, Reverend Paula Vennells, agreed to take part in a panel discussion about business ethics.

The talk, attended by City firm executives, was held at London’s Canary Wharf in May 2018. Apparently undeterred by the crisis unfolding on her watch – and certainly making no mention of it – Ms Vennells declared herself ‘proud of the Post Office… a really special organisation in terms of its values’.

After explaining how her values came ‘from the glory of God’, she turned to the subject of making mistakes.

The Post Office was already mired in the Horizon IT scandal when its deeply- religious chief executive, Reverend Paula Vennells, agreed to take part in a panel about business ethics

Ms Vennells, who faces accusations of covering up the Horizon scandal by refusing to properly investigate faults in the system, is facing a massive public backlash in the wake of ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office

Amid intensifying pressure, the 64-year-old mother of two, who was the Post Office’s chief executive between 2012 and 2019, announced she would hand back her CBE

‘When we mess up, which we do every day,’ she told the audience, ‘my faith tells me that I can be forgiven, that shortfalls are a perfectly human thing to do and that I can always start again; always, always, always, start again. You can put things right.

‘And for me, I found that very liberating because… you can get it wrong and you can move on.’

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire medal (CBE)

But after announcing she would hand back her CBE after public pressure, Ms Vennells said she was ‘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’.

But, crucially, she stopped short of admitting responsibility for the debacle which saw more than 700 sub-postmasters prosecuted for crimes they hadn’t committed. Hundreds were left bankrupt, humiliated or in prison. Among those convicted, four committed suicide and 33 others have since died without seeing justice.

It comes as ministers have ordered the Post Office to probe claims that a second IT system could also be at fault.

A string of former sub-postmasters have told the i newspaper they believe Capture, an accounting software introduced in Post Office branches in the 1990s, was faulty and to blame for financial discrepancies in their systems.

One, Steve Marston, 67, of Heap Bridge, Greater Manchester, said Capture saw him convicted of theft and false accounting in 1998 – before the Horizon fiasco.

It comes as ministers have ordered the Post Office to probe claims that a second IT system could also be at fault

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Commons that the government will take drastic action to ‘right the wrongs’

Labour MP Kevan Jones, who has advocated for postmasters impacted by the Horizon scandal, said he knew of ‘five or six’ potential victims of Capture.

Former postmaster Alan Bates recently hit out at the ‘madness’ of the Post Office scandal compensation scheme and warned victims were ‘dying’ waiting for redress.

More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faults with Fujitsu’s Horizon system used in Post Office branches made it appear that money was missing.

Just 93 convictions have been quashed so far, meaning hundreds of postmasters are unable to access compensation.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Commons that the government will take drastic action to ‘right the wrongs’.

Describing the scandal as ‘one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history’, Mr Sunak said around 750 former postmasters will be able to sign simple declarations of innocence to be exonerated en masse.

That will unlock hundreds of millions of pounds in ‘life-changing’ compensation, potentially £600,000 each, which should be paid by the end of the year.

When approached for comment by The Mirror, the Post Office declined to comment on the video.