On Friday, the inquiry heard that Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief executive, “likely” signed off a trial bill of more than £300,000 after a sub-postmaster was blamed for a £25,000 shortfall at his branch.
Lee Castleton, 55, who was played by actor Will Mellor in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2007 after the Post Office pursued him through the civil courts.
Alan Cook, the former Post Office managing director, told the public inquiry how Ms Vennells “likely” signed off the legal budget. The former chief executive joined the Post Office as its network director and would have been in this role at the time.
Questioning Mr Cook on the £300,000 spent, inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams said: “What I want to ask you is, what was the process back in 2006 for authorising the expenditure of those sums of money in the Post Office?”
As part of his response, Mr Cook said: “We had delegated authorities in place that would allow people below me, that would have probably lied with Paula Vennells as the network director, would have been able to sign that off.”
Clarifying, Sir Wyn then asked: “So what it amounts to is there would have been a person within the Post Office organisation who would have authority to sign off spending the money without talking either to you or to the board?”
“Correct,” responded Mr Cook.
The inquiry chairman continued: “So did you tell me the most likely person was Paula Vennells?”
Mr Cook replied: “Yes, I think so.”
At another point during his evidence, Mr Cook, who held the managing director role from 2006 to the early part of 2010, was also shown an email in which he blamed shortfalls on sub-postmasters with their “hand in the till”.
