A former Post Office boss who congratulated colleagues after a sub-postmaster was wrongly convicted is giving evidence to the inquiry.
David Smith was appointed managing director in April 2010 and left less the role just eight months later in December.
His tenure oversaw the conviction of pregnant sub-postmistress Seema Misra, who was handed a 15-month sentence after being blamed for £74,000 worth of shortfalls.
It was previously reported that Mr Smith celebrated her imprisonment in an internal email which described the update as “brilliant news”.
This afternoon, the inquiry will hear from Sir Michael Hodgkinson, who became the first chairman of Post Office Ltd when he took on the role in April 2012.
More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted as a result of the Horizon scandal, which saw them blamed for non-existent shortfalls produced by faulty software.
Yesterday, the inquiry heard how former chief executive Paula Vennells suggested shortfalls were down to the “temptation” to steal from the tills.
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Live Reporting Related Stories 11 April 2024 • 10:06am
10:05AM
David Smith’s evidence begins David Smith, the Post Office’s managing director between April and December 2010, has now started to give his evidence to the inquiry.
10:01AM
David Smith prepares to give evidence David Smith has sat down to begin taking evidence. He will be questioned by counsel to the inquiry Sam Stevens.
9:54AM
Everything you need to know about the Post Office Horizon scandal The row over the Post Office scandal and the hundreds of victims who are yet to be fully compensated has dominated headlines.
What caused the Post Office scandal? What did sub-postmasters do when they found out they had shortfalls?
How many sub-postmasters have had their convictions overturned? And who has received compensation?
Click here for all the answers to questions you may have about the Horizon row, which still shows no sign of abating.
9:46AM
Paula Vennells blamed problems with Horizon on ‘temptation’ of postmasters to take money from tills Paula Vennells blamed Post Office accounting shortfalls on the “temptation” of sub-postmasters and not the Horizon software, the inquiry heard from witnesses.
In a damning day of evidence, the former Post Office chief executive was also accused of failing to disclose at least 16 cases that appeared to undermine the reliability of Horizon software at least two years before the company stopped prosecuting sub-postmasters in 2015.
Lord Arbuthnot, the Tory peer, and Sir Anthony Hooper, the retired High Court judge, were the latest witnesses to address the public inquiry into the scandal of more than 900 sub-postmasters being wrongfully prosecuted for shortfalls that did not exist.
Read the full story here
9:34AM
Post Office scandal timeline You can remind yourself of how far this stretches back by scrolling through our timeline below.
9:22AM
What happened at the inquiry yesterday? On Wednesday, the inquiry heard from Lord Arbuthnot, the Tory peer who campaigned alongside the wronged sub-postmasters, and Sir Anthony Hooper, the retired High Court judge who was appointed to chair a Post Office mediation scheme for sub-postmasters who believed they had been wrongly convicted.
Lord Arbuthnot accused Gordon Brown’s Labour Government of avoiding responsibility for responding to sub-postmasters’ claims of wrongful prosecution before it lost the 2010 general election.
The peer also told the inquiry about a meeting he had in June 2012 with Post Office executives and other MPs, in which Paula Vennells, its then chief executive, blamed accounting shortfalls on the “temptation” of sub-postmasters and not the Horizon software.
The inquiry also heard of 16 examples of cases which undermined the argument made by Ms Vennells that “every case taken to prosecution that involves the Horizon system” had been found in favour of the Post Office.
Sir Anthony Hooper added that he had told Ms Vennells “again and again” that the Post Office’s case against the sub-postmasters “didn’t make sense”.
9:14AM
Who is giving evidence today? Giving evidence this morning is David Smith, who was the Post Office’s managing director between April and December 2010.
During his tenure, pregnant sub-postmistress Seema Misra was handed a 15-month sentence after being blamed for £74,000 worth of shortfalls.
It was previously reported that Mr Smith celebrated her imprisonment in an internal email which described the update as “brilliant news”.
The inquiry will then hear this afternoon from Sir Michael Hodgkinson, who became the first chairman of Post Office Ltd when he took on the role in April 2012.
Sir Michael was previously a director of the Post Office between May 2003 and August 2007, having also been an executive at Land Rover, the Bank of Ireland and BAA plc, the former operator of Heathrow Airport.
9:09AM
Welcome to the live blog Good morning and welcome to The Telegraph’s coverage of the Post Office inquiry, which starts at 10am.
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