Former Post Office boss maintains innocence over Horizon scandal

Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief executive, has continued to maintain her innocence, saying she is "devastated" that other executives did not share crucial information about the faulty Horizon IT system.

- Mark Sweney

Lawyers for Vennells, writing on her behalf in closing submissions to the inquiry into the Post Office scandal, said no evidence had emerged to show she "acted in bad faith".

Vennells has previously publicly named five executives who she said were to blame for the scandal, but her lawyers said she had "no desire to point the finger at others".

"Despite Ms Vennells repeatedly attempting to resolve concerns of the subpostmasters during her leadership, she simply did not get the information which she ought to have been given by her senior team, whom she trusted and to whom she delegated responsible role," her lawyers said in the submission yesterday.

"She had faith in them. She is devastated by the fact that information was not shared with her. She has no desire to point the finger at others, nor to speculate as to why information was not shared."