Mr Bates added: “She probably loved the money, loved the bonuses and loved not having to know anything. It was her job to say she loved the Post Office and probably in her job description.”
The day of interrogation began with questions from Edward Henry KC, who first addressed Ms Vennells by saying: “There were so many forks in the road but you always took the wrong path didn’t you?”
“It was an extraordinarily complex undertaking and the Post Office and I didn’t always take the right path,” responded Ms Vennells. “I’m very clear about that.”
Vennells: I was ‘too trusting’ of executives
Later Mr Henry asked Ms Vennells if she agreed that she had “no one to blame” but herself.
Responding in a slightly flustered manner, Ms Vennells said: “Absolutely – where I made mistakes and I made the wrong calls, whether or not I had – in those cases where I didn’t have information, I think that’s more difficult.”
Ms Vennells went on to argue that she had been “too trusting” of several Post Office executives, who she said denied her information.
When pressed to give names, she listed senior IT executives Mike Young, whom the inquiry has been unable to locate, and Lesley Sewell – as well as former general legal counsels Susan Crichton, Chris Aujard and Jane MacLeod.
The inquiry’s chairman, Sir Wyn Williams, a former High Court judge, confirmed that Ms MacLeod had refused to attend the inquiry or appear remotely and that he was unable to compel her to do so – despite her being an “important witness” – as she lives in Australia.
Accused of being ‘in la-la land’
Mr Henry went on to accuse the ex-Post Office boss of being in “la-la land” over her insistence that she was unaware remote access to sub-postmaster branches was possible during her 2012 to 2019 tenure as chief executive.
She said: “I don’t recall that at all from the time. If our external lawyers were aware of that, and that was shared within the Post Office at the time, it is completely unacceptable.”
Ms Vennells told the inquiry she had worked for “the last three years” on preparing her evidence on the inquiry and “prioritised” it above “anything else”.
She added: “It has probably been a full-time job. I have avoided talking to the press – perhaps to my own detriment – because all the way through I have put this first.”
However, Ms Vennells had no comment to give as she left Aldwych House – flanked by police officers – and stepped into a taxi.
The inquiry continues.
