Post Office inquiry: ‘Come clean’ victim demands of ex-boss Vennells
A victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal has told Sky News that ex-boss Paula Vennells must “come clean” in her evidence to the statutory inquiry.
Chirag Sidhpura, a former sub-postmaster who became one of the public champions for justice based on his own treatment at the hands of the Post Office, said he was expecting a “culture of denial” and “lies” over Ms Vennells’ three days of scheduled evidence.
She is due before the inquiry later this morning.
The 65-year-old, who was Post Office chief executive from 2012 to 2019, will be speaking publicly about what happened for the first time in almost a decade.
While she has since acknowledged that sub-postmasters were wrongly accused and prosecuted over faults in the Horizon accounting system under her watch, the inquiry will seek to uncover what she knew and when.
She told a committee of MPs in 2015: “We are a business that genuinely cares about the people who work for us. If there had been any miscarriages of justice, it would have been really important to me and the Post Office that we surfaced those. As the investigations have gone through, so far we have no evidence of that.”
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Chirag Sidhpura: ‘I have had breakdowns’
Victims at the heart of this scandal beg to differ.
Post Office prosecutors were alerted to bugs with Horizon days before the trial and eventual conviction of sub-postmaster Seema Misra in 2010 – before Ms Vennells had taken over.
There is further evidence – in the form of recordings leaked to Sky News – to suggest Ms Vennells had been told by May 2013 that Horizon operator Fujitsu had remote access to the system.
On Tuesday, ITV News reported that she described potential wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters in an October 2013 email as “very disturbing”.
That was written more than a year before the company halted prosecutions.
Chirag Sidhpura’s experience
Chirag had written to Ms Vennells personally about his own case in 2017. A week later, his contract was terminated.
He chose to hand over more than £57,000 to avoid prosecution. He lost not only his business but also his house and mental health.
Chirag said of Ms Vennells’ evidence: “I think there is still going to be a culture of denial, lies, ‘I don’t remember, I don’t recall’.
“It is put to you in black and white you have done this, you made these decisions. Just come clean.”
ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office ensured a spotlight was firmly placed on Ms Vennells, whose career has included stints at companies including L’Oreal and in the NHS.
She is also an Anglican priest.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Read more:
Who is Paula Vennells?
The major questions for key Post Office boss to answer – and why her replies matter
The Post Office Horizon scandal explained
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Ex-Post Office exec accused of lying
A lawyer’s view
Paul Marshall, a lawyer for victims, told Sky News that the evidence from Ms Vennells was an opportunity to “make confession”, claiming she presided over a Post Office “cult” which had a corporate inability to accept flaws.
“In one sense, she was or became the leader of what was indistinguishable from a cult.
“It had a belief system in which everything that didn’t coincide with that cult and its set of beliefs had to be either destroyed or excluded and removed.”
Ms Vennells has pledged to co-operate fully with the inquiry and, like all witnesses, must give an oath to tell the truth ahead of her evidence.
A statement released by her earlier this year stated: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.
“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.
“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”
Follow the questioning of Paula Vennells at the inquiry live on Sky News on Wednesday. Watch Sky News live here, and on YouTube, or on TV on Freeview 233, Sky 501, Virgin 603, and BT 313. You can also follow the latest on the Sky News website and app.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq over allegations she lived in properties linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh.
It comes after the current Bangladeshi leader, Muhammad Yunus, said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated.
He told the Sunday Times the properties should be handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch said: “It’s time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq.
“He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption.
“Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
Ms Siddiq insists she has “done nothing wrong”.
Her aunt was ousted from office in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership and fled to India.
Ms Siddiq is also named with her aunt in Bangladesh court documents about meetings with the Russian government.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir to sack the minister
Read more from Sky News:
Ten Reform councillors quit in protest
Liz Truss sends cease and desist letter to Starmer
As economic secretary to the Treasury, Ms Siddiq is responsible for policy on both the City and tackling corruption.
She referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics watchdog on Monday following the reports about the properties.
On the same day, the prime minister said: “Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done, and that’s why we brought into being the new code.
“It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening.”
Police in Aberdeen have widened the search area for two sisters who disappeared four days ago in the city.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV on Market Street after leaving their home on Tuesday at around 2.12am.
The sisters – who are part of a set of triplets and originally from Hungary – crossed the Victoria Bridge to the Torry area and turned right on to a footpath next to the River Dee.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen on CCTV in Market Street. Pic: Police Scotland/PA
They headed in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club but officers said there is no evidence to suggest the missing women left the immediate area.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and a marine unit have been trying to trace the pair.
The sisters crossed Victoria Bridge before walking along a footpath next to the River Dee
The pair were heading in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club on the south side of the River Dee
Further searches are being carried out towards the Port of Aberdeen’s South Harbour and Duthie Park.
Police Scotland said it is liaising with authorities in Hungary to support the relatives of the two sisters.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Eliza and Henrietta’s family are understandably extremely worried about them and we are working tirelessly to find them.
“We are seriously concerned about them and have significant resources dedicated to the inquiry.”
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Officers have requested businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review their CCTV footage for the early morning of Tuesday 7 January.
Police added they are keen to hear from anyone with dashcam footage from that time.
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