Post Office scandal: Paula Vennells arrives at Horizon IT inquiry to face grilling

Paula Vennells has arrived at the Horizon IT inquiry today where she will be grilled under oath over her role in the Post Office scandal.

The former Post Office CEO will give evidence to the inquiry over three days and is set to face questions amid claims she covered-up the organisation's knowledge of bugs in the faulty accounting software - including likely questions on whether she deliberately misled MPs.

The disgraced ex-chief executive did not answer any questions as she entered Aldwych House in London on Wednesday. She was surrounded by press as she exited a car a short distance from the venue and was eventually escorted by police.

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Hundreds of subpostmasters were prosecuted by the business between 1999 and 2015 after Horizon, owned by Japanese company Fujitsu, made it appear as though money was missing at their branches. Ms Vennells, a 65-year-old ordained priest, was Post Office boss from 2012 to 2019 – a time period in which the company was beginning to have to deal with the fall-out of the potential wrongful convictions.

She has been urged by the scandal’s victims to tell the truth in the lead-up to her evidence and 'come clean' with any personal wrongdoings. The probe previously heard Ms Vennells had hoped that there would not be an independent inquiry – even having her number blocked by ex-head of IT Lesley Sewell after seeking her help to avoid one.

The former boss was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year after the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, triggered a wave of public fury. After the hit show, more than a million people signed a petition demanding Ms Vennells be stripped of her CBE, which was