'I let these people down': Shamed Paula Vennells breaks down in tears AGAIN and insists she 'worked as hard as she could' after being accused of 'being in la-la land' in furious grilling by Horizon victims' lawyer

Former Post Office brag Paula Vennells cried again contiguous portion giving grounds astatine the Horizon IT enquiry aft admitting she 'let these radical down'.

The shamed 65-year-old besides told the proceeding successful London that determination are 'no words' that volition marque the 'sorrow and what radical person gone done immoderate better'.

Ms Vennells was accused of being successful 'la-la land' and liable for her ain downfall during questioning by Edward Henry KC, a lawyer representing subpostmasters.

She added that she mislaid each employment aft the Court of Appeal passed a judgement which yet led to a fig of subpostmaster convictions being overturned.

Ms Vennells - who insisted she 'worked arsenic hard arsenic I imaginable could' - besides broke down successful tears today, aft doing the aforesaid connected the archetypal time of her grounds connected Wednesday.

During a combative speech this morning, minutes into the 3rd time of Ms Vennells's evidence, Mr Henry said she had 'no-one to blasted but yourself'.

Ms Vennells said: 'Where I made mistakes and wherever I made the incorrect calls … wherever I had accusation and I made the incorrect calls, yes of course.'

Mr Henry said: 'You are liable for your ain downfall aren't you?'

Ms Vennells, who was main enforcement of the organisation from 2012 to 2019, said determination were 'no words I tin find contiguous that volition marque the sorrow and what radical person gone done immoderate better.'

Her mentation was dismissed arsenic 'humbug' by Mr Henry.

He launched into Ms Vennells astatine the enquiry today, asking her: 'There were truthful galore forks successful the road, but you ever took the incorrect way didn't you?'

Ms Vennells replied: 'It was an extraordinarily analyzable undertaking and the Post Office and I didn't ever instrumentality the close path.'

Mr Henry replied: 'You exercised powerfulness with nary thought of the consequences of your actions, contempt those consequences staring you successful the face.'

Ms Vennells replied: 'I believed that we were doing the close things, intelligibly that was not ever the case.'

The enquiry antecedently heard however Ms Vennells fought to support the estimation of the Post Office arsenic it came nether mounting unit to analyse allegations of unsafe convictions by workers, MPs and the press.

In an email she said that she would instrumentality the proposal of rotation doc Mark Davies, the organisation's manager of communications successful 2013, aft helium warned that the Post Office risked antagonistic sum if it began looking into humanities cases.

Reflecting connected her clip successful charge, she told the enquiry she should person asked bundle elephantine Fujitsu for reassurances that problems with its Horizon bundle had been dealt with erstwhile fixed the 'world-changing information' determination were bugs successful the system.

She besides conceded miscarriages of justness could person been discovered sooner if the archetypal program for forensic accountants Second Sight to decently scrutinise respective convictions had been carried out, alternatively than conscionable 2 oregon three.

Ms Vennells wept erstwhile questioned astir subpostmasters being wrongly convicted, including Martin Griffiths who killed himself aft being hounded by the organisation's probe unit. She became affectional again arsenic she apologised for misleading MPs who were looking into constituents' complaints astir the faulty software.

And she fought backmost tears erstwhile recalling speechmaking 'disturbing' grounds of the interaction of the ungraded connected Post Office workers.

She said her mistakes would 'live with maine for ever.' But she insisted she did not deliberation determination had been immoderate miscarriages of justness until agelong aft she near the organisation successful 2019 - having antecedently told MPs the Post Office had 'never mislaid a case'.

Mr Henry, appearing to allude to Ms Vennells' relation arsenic an ordained Anglican priest, said: 'You preach compassion but you don't practise it.'

During a combative exchange, minutes into the 3rd time of Ms Vennells' evidence, Mr Henry said the 65-year-old had 'no-one to blasted but yourself'.

Ms Vennells said: 'Where I made mistakes and wherever I made the incorrect calls … wherever I had accusation and I made the incorrect calls, yes of course.'

Mr Henry said: 'You are liable for your ain downfall aren't you?'

Ms Vennells replied: 'From erstwhile the Court of Appeal passed its judgement, I mislaid each the employment that I person had, and since that clip I person lone worked connected this inquiry.'

She besides said she had refused to prosecute with the Press, possibly to her detriment.

Mr Henry said: 'I suggest to you that you proceed to unrecorded successful a unreality of denial, and it persists adjacent today, due to the fact that you person given, successful 750-odd pages (of her witnesser statement), a craven and self-serving relationship haven't you?

'I didn't know, cipher told me, I can't remember, I wasn't shown this, I relied connected my lawyers'.'

Ms Vennells replied: 'I person tried to bash this to the precise champion of my ability.'

Mr Henry said: 'Whatever you did was deliberate, considered and calculated. No-one deceived you, no-one misled you. You acceptable the docket and code for the concern didn't you?'

Ms Vennells, who remained calm throughout, replied: 'I was the main executive, I didn't acceptable the docket for the enactment of the strategy and the mode the ineligible and IT parts of it worked.'

Mr Henry told the enquiry determination was a 'disconnect betwixt firm communications, the outward look of the business, and the grubby interior reality'.

But Ms Vennells repeatedly asked Mr Henry if helium had asked her a question portion addressing her.

It was near to enquiry president Sir Wyn Williams to intervene, and asked astir whether distant entree to the Horizon bundle was imaginable - thing Ms Vennells insisted astatine the clip was not, the enquiry heard previously, pinning the blasted for shortfalls successful the tills connected subdivision workers.

The president said: 'Throughout the play that you were main executive, the existent grade of distant entree was ne'er satisfactorily resolved by elder radical astatine the Post Office.'

Ms Vennells replied: 'Sir Wyn, that is correct. It appears determination were interventions connected a reasonably predominant ground … which was not known to maine … intelligibly it was happening.'

Mr Henry said: 'It is extraordinary, isn't it? Cartwright King, your outer lawyers knew each astir it. And yet you didn't, the committee didn't. This is 'la la land', isn't it?'

Mr Vennells stood her ground, and replied: 'I had nary cognition that Cartwright King knew that astatine the clip I was main executive.'

Ms Vennells denied the allegation that she sought to 'hide' issues with Horizon and 'contain' antagonistic articles successful the Press, arsenic concerns astir the integrity and reliability of the bundle were being picked up by MPs and journalists.

Mr Henry said Ms Vennells 'knew of the beingness of bugs, errors and defects … knew determination was a hazard of civilian claims for wrongful prosecutions and civilian actions based connected specified bugs' owed to proceeding astir it successful a committee meeting.

Ms Vennells agreed.

Mr Henry added: 'You truly had earned your support - you kept the lid connected it.'

Ms Vennells replied: 'That was not astatine each what I was doing.'

Mr Henry said: 'Contain antagonistic press, support the business, fell Horizon issues. That's the truth, isn't it?'

Ms Vennells replied: 'No Mr Henry, that isn't the truth.

'If determination were hard issues that needed to beryllium addressed, that was what I tried to do.'

The enquiry heard yesterday however Ms Vennells said it was 'a goal' of hers that 'all Press, adjacent section Press', were 'scoured for antagonistic remark and refuted'.

Ms Vennells confirmed a catalogue of 'Horizon belief-shattering facts', enactment to her by Mr Stein, including that she knew astir bugs successful the strategy successful 2013, and that the adept who antecedently supported prosecutions could nary longer beryllium relied upon.

Mr Stein said: 'By the extremity of 2013 you could person been successful nary doubt, Ms Vennells, that the Horizon strategy needed probe and review. Do you agree?'

Ms Vennells replied: 'I privation we had done that.'

But she continued to accidental she trusted the accusation she was given.

She said: 'At nary constituent did I person immoderate accusation that would person pointed maine to thing I knew thing about.'

She became affectional arsenic she told the inquiry: 'I loved the Post Office, I gave it… I worked arsenic hard arsenic I perchance could to present the champion Post Office for the UK.

'What I failed to bash was I failed to recognise … the imbalance of powerfulness betwixt the instauration and the individual.

'I fto these radical down – I americium precise alert of that.'

The proceeding continues.