Post Office scandal: Who knew what and when?

Paula Vennells was the chief executive of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019. Her appearance before the inquiry, over three days in May, was hotly anticipated.

The key questions were: what did she know about problems with Horizon, and when did she find out about them?

In the end, we got plenty of tears, as she appeared to repeatedly wilt under probing questioning, but few concrete answers. There was a great deal she claimed she couldn’t remember, and even more she said she had never been told.

“You are not responsible for everything that happens underneath you. You have to rely on the advice of internal and external experts,” she argued.

A lawyer for the sub-postmasters accused her of living in “a cloud of denial”. The inquiry’s own lead counsel asked sardonically whether she was “the unluckiest CEO in history”.

There were lots of questions about whether she had been more focused on protecting the Post Office brand than its people, with her attitude towards press coverage placed under a harsh spotlight.

We saw scathing text messages from Dame Moya Greene, the former head of Royal Mail, which cast doubt on Ms Vennells’ honesty. But amid all the tears and apologies, there were few certainties.

Yet those three days of awkward testimony, and a 775-page witness statement, will still provide plenty of food for thought for Sir Wyn as he prepares his report.