The Post Office Inquiry resumes today ahead of a crucial six-week period featuring evidence from a number of lawyers.
The Horizon IT inquiry has previously looked at the role of legal professionals in bringing civil claims against sub-postmasters accused of theft from branches.
The second part of this phase will examine how some 736 individuals were criminally prosecuted – again by focusing on case studies and hearing evidence from investigators and lawyers.
Over the next two days the inquiry will look at the prosecution of Lisa Brennan, a Liverpool-born mother who worked as a counter clerk at the Huyton branch. She was suspended after a shortfall of £3,000 was purported to have been detected by the Horizon IT system and summonsed to appear at court on Christmas Eve 2002. The system has subsequently been discredited and found to be unreliable.
Brennan has previously told the inquiry that she had a ‘heartbreaking’ conversation with her then six-year-old daughter and told her she could never come home again if she was sent to prison.
She would be found guilty on 27 counts of theft and received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years. Brennan then tried to take an overdose, and later told the inquiry: ‘The shame of being accused of stealing and my suspension tipped me over the edge, and I felt like I couldn’t carry on.’
Her marriage broke down, she became bankrupt and her family home had to be sold, leaving her homeless. She recalled being unable to walk down the street without feeling everyone was talking about her.
Eventually, she trained as a teacher and secured a placement, but she had to leave after a CRB check. Despite her reservations, she lodged her case at the Criminal Cases Review Commission and her conviction was quashed in April 2021.
Stephen Bradshaw, the Post Office employee involved in the criminal investigation of Brennan and eight others, will give evidence today. Former Post Office lawyer Teresa Williamson will give evidence on the Brennan case tomorrow.
Seven other lawyers, including in-house and external solicitors, will appear before the inquiry until the end of the current phase on 21 December.
The next phase on the conduct of the group litigation and compensation schemes will start early next year.
