‘I think you knew’ about Horizon errors, ex-Royal Mail boss told Paula Vennells

Paula Vennells, Post Office chief executive from 2012 to 2019, gives her tearful evidence to the inquiry

Paula Vennells, the disgraced former Post Office chief executive, received a text message stating “I think you knew” from a former Royal Mail boss, the inquiry has heard.

Dame Moya Greene appeared to accuse Ms Vennells of knowing about Horizon errors – which resulted in more than 900 wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters over a 16-year period – following a select committee appearance by Nick Read, Ms Vennells’s successor.

Screenshots of their text exchange were shown to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry yesterday, as Ms Vennells began answering questions on the scandal for the first time in nearly a decade.

Dame Moya, who stepped down from the top role at Royal Mail in 2018, messaged Ms Vennells about Mr Read’s evidence in January, calling him a “poor witness”.

In a later message, Dame Moya said: “I don’t know what to say. I think you knew.” Ms Vennells responded: “No Moya, that isn’t the case.”

When questioned by Jason Beer KC, the lead counsel to the inquiry, Ms Vennells told the inquiry: “I think Moya was possibly suggesting that there was some conspiracy as you mentioned earlier and as I said, I didn’t believe that was the case.”

In another message, Dame Moya said: “I have supported you all these years … to my own detriment. I can’t support you now after what I have learned.”

The messages were revealed within hours of Ms Vennells’s first day of three giving evidence, which began with her surrounded by police officers and struggling through a scrum of photographers as she arrived at Aldwych House, central London.

Police protect Ms Vennells as she arrives to give evidence to the inquiry - Paul Grover/for The Telegraph

It was the first time Ms Vennells has spoken publicly about Horizon since 2015, when she gave evidence to a select committee hearing.

A packed hearing room greeted the 65-year-old as journalists, lawyers, sub-postmasters, supporters and fascinated members of the public filled more than 100 seats.

After briefly confirming the contents of two witness statements, which amounted to 798 pages, Ms Vennells began by apologising to all the sub-postmasters and families affected by the scandal.

Naming specific individuals, including Alan Bates, the former sub-postmaster, Ms Vennells added: “I am very, very sorry. I would also like to repeat the apology which is in my witness statement to Alan Bates, to Ron Warmington and to Ian Henderson from Second Sight and to Lord Arbuthnot.

“I and those I worked with made their work so much harder and I am very, very sorry for that.”

Dame Moya, pictured in 2018 as chief executive of Royal Mail - Leon Neal/AFP

Sub-postmasters and their families were dismissive of her apology after hearing it during her evidence.

Giving an interview outside the building, Mr Bates, whose fight for justice and to expose the Horizon scandal inspired the ITV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, said her apologies were “just words”.

Addressing the tears Ms Vennells shed as she gave evidence, he added: “The whole thing is so upsetting for everybody including so many of the victims over the years, I’ve got no sympathy really.”

Suzanne Sercombe, Mr Bates’s partner, said the personal apology to Mr Bates was “meaningless”, telling The Telegraph: “It’s meaningless because she did not do anything in years gone past when she should have done something. It’s like, ‘Sorry I got found out’.”

Mark Kelly, a former sub-postmaster, described Ms Vennells’s words as a “PR apology”.

Seema Misra, who was pregnant when she was jailed for an alleged shortfall of £74,000 in 2010, said: “It’s like a ritual, they just come in and say ‘sorry’,” adding: “She might mean it – I just don’t know.”

Text messages between Dame Moya and Ms Vennells were shown to the inquiry

Ms Vennells joined the Post Office in 2007 as group network director before later progressing to managing director and eventually chief executive in 2012, a role she left in 2019 after handing in her resignation in the latter months of 2018.

However, she told the inquiry that she did not realise the Post Office brought criminal prosecutions against its own sub-postmasters until 2012.

Over approximately four hours of evidence, Ms Vennells broke down in tears no fewer than three times – becoming emotional when she apologised for telling MPs the Post Office was successful in every court case against sub-postmasters.

After detailing a number of cases in which the Post Office had not been successful after sub-postmasters blamed Horizon, Mr Beer asked: “Why were you telling these parliamentarians that every prosecution involving the Horizon system had been successful and had found in favour of the Post Office?”

After a short pause in which she appeared to compose herself, Ms Vennells said: “I fully accept now that the Post Office...”

She broke off her answer to grab a tissue and held her head in her hands for a brief moment before recomposing herself. Ms Vennells continued: “The Post Office knew that and I completely accepted.”

The former chief executive also sobbed when asked about her response to the suicide of a former sub-postmaster Martin Griffiths, who was wrongfully blamed for shortfalls amounting to £100,000.

She went on to break down in tears when pressed on an email which detailed eight cases of wrongfully prosecuted sub-postmasters, which she had described as “disturbing”.

Ms Vennells will resume giving evidence on Thursday.

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