Paula Vennells arrived at the Post Office public inquiry as a former chief executive, a former Church of England lay preacher and a former CBE, with only her reputation, and perhaps her freedom, to defend.
After more than five hours of interrogation, she has done very little to restore the former, with the latter still a living problem.
While she was giving evidence, her nemesis Alan Bates was meeting with the Metropolitan Police to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Post Office Inquiry: Paula Vennells’ evidence as it happened
The day was horrible for Vennells from the moment she got out of her car in the pouring rain and was greeted by the kind of media mayhem reserved for superstars and the shamed.
Navigating hordes of cameras and reporters is the 21st century version of public action.
Having avoided scrutiny for almost nine years, during which time the Mail She ran was revealed to be deceitful, vindictive and chaotic, she should expect nothing less.
Inside, she faced an audience of about 150 deputy postmasters, the toughest crowd for the person responsible for sending many of them to prison for crimes they didn’t commit.
After a reminder from inquiry chairman Sir Wynn Williams about his right to avoid self-incrimination, his opening move was an apology.
She apologized to the subpostmasters and families whose lives were ruined. She specifically apologized to Mr Bates and Lord Arbuthnot, her parliamentary defender, and to Second Sight investigators, who exposed the Post Office’s failures on her behalf and which she closed because of her problems.
The truce lasted as long as it took Jason Beer KC to clear his throat. The lawyer’s main weapon in the inquiry was irony and it was devastating, all the more so as it was apparently lost on Mrs Vennells.
Sub-postmasters react to Vennells’ tears
“Are you the unluckiest chief executive in history?” he asked.
After a pause, the first of many, she replied: “One of my reflections on all of this is that I was too trusting.”
This captured her fundamental defense, which is that during her 12 years at the Post Office, seven of them as chief executive, she was completely unaware of the multiple issues that led to the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
After listing the various things she claims not to know in her 775-page statement, from bugs in the Horizon computer system to instructions for destroying documents, Mr Beer asked: “There was a conspiracy, which lasted 12 years, involving different people throughout hours of denying documents and falsely reassuring?”
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After careful consideration, she concluded that the conspiracy might be going too far. “My deep sadness is that individuals, including myself, made mistakes, didn’t see things, didn’t hear things,” she said.
Throughout the hearing, she claimed to have no knowledge of fundamental issues. For example, she said she didn’t know the Post Office could investigate and prosecute her staff, a power she has wielded since the 17th century until she became chief executive.
When faced with clear evidence that she should have known about the problems, in the form of emails and documents she admitted to having sent and received, she claimed not to have understood their true significance at the time.
Several times she was moved to tears. More often than not, she remained silent when faced with questions, struggling to piece together answers when cornered by contradictions in her evidence.
Meanwhile, the subpostmasters struggled to contain their disdain, hollow laughter greeting various responses.
There was no laughter when she was asked about the suicide of deputy postmaster Martin Griffiths, and an email in which she appeared to attribute it to his mental health rather than the actions of the Post Office investigators pursuing him.
“I’m sorry, it’s not a proper world, I’m just really sorry that Mr Griffiths isn’t here today,” she said.
She has two more days on the witness stand and, based on this evidence, has nowhere to go.
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