Oh, Susan…
Witnesses to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal never fail to disappoint. A defining feature of each existing or former employee is the complete lack of interest in the plight of Subpostmasters. They only seem to care about the business and their own careers.
Susan Crichton was the latest in a long line of duffers, but at least she had the wit to notice the potential implications for the Post Office if it continued to keep prosecuting Subpostmasters despite mounting evidence Horizon did not work.
Crichton tried (not very hard) in 2012 to put a halt to Subpostmaster prosecutions, but internal comedy lawyer Jarnail Singh told her it would lead to “copulation”. He probably meant capitulation.
Coffee, Susan?
By 2013 Crichton was wrestling with Second Sight’s inconvenient determination to tell the Post Office the truth. Having failed to “manage” their conclusions into something more palatable. Crichton was ostracised and thrown under a bus by the Post Office Chair, Alice Perkins. Crichton was allegedly reduced to “yelling” threats at Paula Vennells in a Costa Coffee, something she says she does not remember.
Read all about it here, in my blog post: Bleatings of a Sorry Scapegoat: Lady Susan’s Pity Party.
I perhaps could have been kinder, but I kept coming back to what Crichton had the power to do, compared to what she did do, and how she expressed her concerns. All the evidence suggests she tried to protect the business first, and when the mean girls turned on her, she had a meltdown. The whacking great miscarriage of justice she was perfectly sited to raise alarm bells about seemed to mean nothing.
On the other side of the coin, Crichton was clearly under a huge amount of pressure to do the wrong thing, and when she didn’t do the wrong thing well enough, she was spat out the end by a toxic culture far too big for one internal person to affect.
After her expulsion did she put her shoulder behind the wheel and work to help expose the scandal? No, reader, she didn’t. History will not be kind.
Other takes:
Post Office chief complained that lawyer put integrity ‘above the business’ – Law Gazette
Post Office: Husband of ex-boss Paula Vennells advised on Horizon ‘bug’ – BBC
Ex-Post Office boss sought ‘non-emotive words’ for Horizon bugs, inquiry hears – Guardian
Paula Vennells’ husband advised to use the word ‘bugs’ when confronted with Horizon problems – ITV News
Aujard Ahoy
Susan Crichton’s replacement, Chris Aujard (pictured), characterised in my book as the Mop and Bucket Man, is due to give evidence today, through Crichton’s session will finish first.
There was a moment yesterday when the Chair of the Inquiry, Sir Wyn Williams, seemed to be very relaxed about Crichton’s session running over as, according to counsel to the Inquiry Julian Blake, they had “plenty of time” on Wednesday.
I forgot to check with the press team what that actually meant. I hope Aujard is not a no-show, or truncated in some way.
I have a sneaking suspicion he may be giving evidence remotely from the other side of the world, which might affect timings.
Saturday in Bishops Stortford, Sunday in Southend
On Saturday Tony and Katie Downey, a father and daughter team, will be my guests in Bishops Stortford.
Tony and Katie were only recently made aware they weren’t the only family damaged by the Post Office due to their emigration to the continent. Their campaigning since has been eye-catching and powerful.
Katie has set up a group – Lost Chances – for children of Subpostmasters (with the help of the same Dark Arts guru who runs my website) and Tony has been a searingly honest advocate for Subpostmasters, especially during current the compensation debacle. Do come if you can.
On Sunday the good people of Southend and the surrounding area will have a chance to hear from a true original – Graham Ward – who was at the first Fenny Compton meeting of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance back in 2009. Graham is a lovely man and I can’t wait to catch up with him.
Tickets to both events can be found here. Please come along if you can. Southend in particular has plenty of capacity yet to be er, taken up.
Chirag in Guildford
I am delighted to say that former Farncombe Subpostmaster Chirag Sidhpura has kindly agreed to take the stage alongside Seema and Davinder Misra at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre in Guildford on Wed 15 May. We will also be blessed by the presence of tireless campaigner (and woman responsible for that red Subpostmasters’ banner) Eleanor Shaikh. That evening looks like it might sell out, so if you want to come along, please do buy your tickets now.
Incidentally the banner is due to get an airing tomorrow morning outside the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry before Angela van den Bogerd gives evidence. I think the campaigners will be gathering early so do go along and give your support if you want to.
Welcome
Thanks to everyone who has signed up to this newsletter over the past few days. I’m sorry if I have not responded to any correspondence. Yesterday was a 14 hour day just generating content and the next three look the same. I did at least manage to catch up with my emails from last week and some of them are lovely to read. I’m grateful.
Keep well
Nick
Post Office Scandal – The Inside Story
In April and May 2024, I’ll be visiting various theatres in towns around England.
At each venue I’ll be joined by a former Subpostmaster (apart from Walton when Second Sight’s Ian Henderson will be in the chair). There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and learn even more about the scandal.
All the dates and box office links are here. Please do have a look, see if there’s a venue near you, and if you fancy it, book a couple of tickets. Please also feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends who may live near a venue!
I’ll be around after each show in the foyer or bar and look forward to saying hello if you can make it.