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The final closing statements are being made to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and lawyers for key figures have submitted their last arguments.
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells says, in her own written statement published online, she is “devastated” that information was “not shared with her” about the faulty Horizon IT system.
It is the first time the inquiry has heard from her since her appearance earlier this year.
Here are three summaries of some key submissions from Ms Vennells and other so-called core participants.
Paula Vennells
The former Post Office boss’s final legal submission states there was “nothing to show she acted in bad faith”.
As part of a bundle of closing statements Ms Vennells is described as someone who “wanted to do right by the sub-postmasters”.
She accepts that she “did not manage to uncover the truth about the matters” because “she herself was not told about issues which may have allowed her to do so.”
Her lawyers said she was “devastated” by the fact that information was “not shared” with her but that she “has no desire to point the finger at others”.
Her apology to the inquiry was also reiterated as part of her legal team’s 138-page written submission.
“Ms Vennells apologises unreservedly to all those who are affected by the matters which this inquiry is investigating,” it read.
While Ms Vennells admits she was the “holder of ultimate executive accountability”, her lawyers state that should “not be confused with an obligation to make every decision personally.”
She “relied” on briefings, reports and advice from “senior colleagues”, including IT specialists and lawyers, they wrote.
Her main argument is that the information passed on to her “was incomplete or wrong”, or that information “was not passed on” at all, adding therefore that…
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