Post Office ex-CEO Paula Vennells breaks down at inquiry
STORY: :: Britain's Post Office ex-CEO Paula Vennells breaks down in tears at the Horizon inquiry
:: Post Office Horizon Inquiry
:: May 22, 2024
:: London, England
Paula Vennells, Former Post Office CEO
"I fully accept now, that the post office... Excuse me..the post office knew that. I completely accept it. Personally, I didn't know that and I'm incredibly sorry that that happened to those people and to so many others."
"I would just like to say, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do this in person, how sorry I am for all that sub-postmasters and their families and others have suffered as a result of all of the matters that the inquiry has been looking into for so long."
Hundreds of postmasters, who ran community post offices, were convicted after a faulty IT system from Japanese company Fujitsu led to shortfalls in their accounts, and the state-run Post Office pursued them despite suggestions that it knew of the problems.
Some spent time in jail, others went bankrupt and saw their marriages and reputations destroyed. Some died before they saw their names cleared.
Vennells, who headed the Post Office from 2012 to 2019, said on Wednesday that her understanding until May 2013 was that no bugs had been found in the Horizon software system.
