Post Office paid widow in instalments for silence

Former Post Office executive Angela van den Bogerd

The widow of a sub-postmaster who took his own life had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Post Office in exchange for staggered compensation payments, an inquiry has heard.

The family of sub-postmaster Martin Griffiths also had to agree not to pursue legal action to try to clear his name and get more money.

The details emerged as part of a long-running inquiry into the prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters by the Post Office.

During a second day of questioning, former Post Office executive Angela van den Bogerd was shown emails where she and her colleagues discussed hiring a media lawyer after learning that Mr Griffiths was seriously ill in hospital.

It also emerged that the then chief executive, Paula Vennells, questioned whether Mr Griffiths had "previous mental health issues and potential family issues" to feed back to the board.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters for offences such as theft and false accounting on the strength of faulty Horizon accounting software.

Mr Griffiths had been pursued for a supposed shortfall amounting to £100,000 at his post office in Cheshire.

He had written to the Post Office that July about a £39,000 shortfall at his branch between February 2012 and May 2013.

He was also being held culpable for losses from an armed robbery at his branch in May of that year.

An email from campaigner Alan Bates to Post Office executives quoted Mr Griffiths' mother saying that "the Post Office had driven him to suicide".

The email was eventually forwarded to Ms van den Bogerd with a suggestion from the communications head Mark Davies to hire a specialist media lawyer.

Counsel for the inquiry Jason Beer KC asked Ms van den Bogerd: "The immediate reaction was not 'what can we, the Post Office, do to help this man's family', was it?"

She replied: "Not at this point."

Mr Beer asked if that was what it was like working in the Post Office at this time. "That the first thought was, we need a media lawyer?"

She replied: "In all my time with Post Office from very, very early on, I was very conscious that PR was very important."

'I would never do that'

Following his death, the family was offered £140,000, with the condition that they do not pursue the Post Office for any more money, and keep quiet about the deal.

The payments were staggered, which the Post Office "asked for as an incentive to Mrs Griffiths maintaining confidentiality", according to a 2015 email from Post Office litigation lawyer Rodric Williams to Ms van den Bogerd.

She said the deal had been offered as a way of getting money to Mrs Griffiths more quickly than through the mediation scheme the Post Office had set up.

In further questioning, Ms van den Bogerd was hit with accusation after accusation from lawyer Ed Henry, each of which she denied or disagreed with.

Mr Henry accused her of "deliberately supressing the truth" to which she replied: "No I would never do that."

Mr Henry said she was "letting wrongful convictions stand", to which she said: "No."

The hearing was attended by a number of former sub-postmasters, including Parmod Kalia.

He used to work at the Orpington branch, and was given a six month jail sentence after being falsely accused of stealing £22,000 from the Post Office.

Mr Kalia sat in the inquiry room with tears in his eyes as lawyer Ed Henry questioned Ms van den Bogerd about a letter she sent to him in 2015 insisting that the Horizon system was robust.

As the inquiry broke for lunch, Mr Kalia told the BBC that the exchange was "very tough" to watch.

“He [Mr Henry] brought back memories of my mum. I had to beg and borrow from her, and I could never pay her back."

“It was very important for the barrister to bring it up."

He said he wanted "some kind of acceptance" from Ms van den Bogerd.

“I haven't got what I’m looking for, which is a public apology to me personally. I know she apologised to everyone yesterday, but that was off a bit of paper.”

“She’s broken me” he added.