Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells cried again Friday while giving evidence at the Horizon IT inquiry after insisting that she ‘loved’ the company.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The disgraced 65-year-old also told the hearing in London that there are ‘no words’ that will make the ‘sorrow and what people have gone through any better’.
Ms Vennells – who insisted she ‘worked as hard as I possibly could’ – broke down in tears, after doing the same on the first day of her evidence on Wednesday.
She told the inquiry tearfully: ‘I loved the Post Office, I gave it… I worked as hard as I possibly could to deliver the best Post Office for the UK.
‘What I failed to do was I failed to recognise … the imbalance of power between the institution and the individual. I let these people down – I am very aware of that.’
NO SYMPATHY FOR VENNELLS
Ms Vennells was accused of being in ‘la-la land’ and responsible for her own downfall during questioning by Edward Henry KC, a lawyer representing subpostmasters.
She added that she lost all employment after the Court of Appeal passed a judgment which ultimately led to a number of subpostmaster convictions being overturned.
During an earlier combative exchange Friday morning, minutes into the third day of Ms Vennells’s evidence, Mr Henry said she had ‘no one to blame but yourself’.
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Members of the audience shouted out to dispute Ms Vennells’s evidence as she was talking about new contracts for workers which ‘tightened the screw’ on staff.
Ms Vennells said: ‘It was optional,’ to which people in the public gallery said: ‘It was compulsory.’ Inquiry lawyer Jason Beer then got to his feet and rebuked them.
He said: ‘No, people should not shout out from the public gallery otherwise they will be removed. The witness shall give her evidence without interruption.’
