Ali Abbas Ahmadi
Reporting from the inquiry

"There were so many forks in the road, but you always took the wrong path, didn't you?"

Strong words by Edward Henry KC, who is representing some sub-postmasters and is first up asking questions today.

Many people in the inquiry room look at each other with wry smiles, impressed at Henry's opening remarks.

There is absolute silence in the room - everyone is watching with rapt attention.

"You preach compassion but don't practice it," Henry says.

Vennells admits she and the Post Office did not always take the right path.

Everyone who has their convictions overturned by the Post Office Offences Bill will be eligible for compensation payments.

These payments will be made by the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, which will be set up after the legislation is passed.

The passing of the Post Office Offences Bill also means all people convicted of theft or false accounting between 1996 and 2018 while working for the Post Office will have their names cleared.

The bill will receive royal assent today, the formal process by which the King approves the bill into law.

Ali Abbas Ahmadi
Reporting from the inquiry

Today is the turn of sub-postmasters' representatives to ask questions of Vennells - and they are unlikely to hold back.

The inquiry room is buzzing – it's busier than I’ve ever seen it - and there’s not a spare seat to be found.

I’ve already spotted several sub-postmasters here, including Lee Castleton and Seema Misra, and there are many others in the room.

As a quick reminder, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 due to faulty accountancy software called Horizon, which showed errors that did not exist.

The inquiry has resumed for the final day of Paula Vennells' evidence.

We'll be providing text updates and you can watch by clicking the Play button above.

Emma Simpson
Business correspondent

Image source, EPA

Day three for Paula Vennells and it’s now the turn of the sub-postmasters’ barristers to ask questions.

Jason Beer KC, Counsel to the Inquiry, has spent the last two days skilfully testing her on what she she’s said in her witness statement and her responses to some key documents and emails.

At times it’s felt like he’s been moving at breakneck speed getting through all the key topics. Vennells will have been very well prepared by her legal team. But things could get more uncomfortable for her today as lawyers for the victims are unlikely to hold their punches.

More now from that news that convictions from the Horizon IT scandal are going to be overturned as a result of Parliament approving a new law on Thursday.

Lee Williamson, a former sub-postmaster in Northern Ireland, told the BBC that he was "overjoyed and very grateful".

The law applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland - the Scottish parliament is to pass its own bill to quash convictions.

The case is seen as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

Alex Therrien
Live reporter

Good morning and welcome to the third and last day of former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells giving evidence to the public inquiry into the sub-postmasters scandal.

The last two days have revealed that Vennells, who was CEO from 2012 to 2019, had suggested in 2013 that convictions going back 10 years could be scrutinised but that ex-Post Office media chief, Mark Davies, told her it would "fuel the story and turn it into something bigger than it is".

Meanwhile, a bill quashing convictions of sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal was approved by Parliament on Thursday and will become law later today when it is given royal assent.

It was one of the final bills to pass before MPs break up ahead of the general election in July.

Stay with us for updates from the inquiry and more on what the new law means for sub-postmasters.