A second Post Office boss linked to the Horizon scandal has been given a job handling compensation claims, The i Paper can reveal.
Sarah Lambert has held senior roles at the Post Office for at least a decade and was named several times in evidence heard at the public inquiry.
It is not suggested she knew the IT system was faulty at the time of the wrongful prosecutions but campaigners have repeatedly raised concerns about the history of some Post Office staff assigned to dealing with former sub-postmasters and their compensation.
The i Paper revealed last year that Caroline Richards, a former regional manager who played a key role in the conviction of a sub-postmaster, was working as a “senior dispute resolution manager” in the Post Office’s “remediation unit”.
Campaigners described the situation as “outrageous” and that it showed the Post Office do not understand “the sensitivity of these cases”.
The Post Office said it does not consider Ms Lambert as a person of interest to its “past roles review” as part of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry to identify current staff working in roles related to redressing for sub-postmasters who had links to the Horizon scandal.
But evidence submitted to the inquiry named Ms Lambert as among dozens of Post Office managers sent an email by former communications boss Mark Davies in 2015 giving them a “script” to use if asked about claims sub-postmasters were being wrongfully prosecuted.
Mr Davies told staff that they should say allegations about Horizon were “untrue” and were only being made by a “small number of mainly former postmasters”.
Former sub-postmaster Peter Verrechia is still battling for compensation (Photo: Supplied)More than 900 sub-postmasters have since had wrongful convictions overturned and thousands more are due compensation after the Post Office spent years denying its IT system was faulty.
Peter Verrechia, a former sub-postmaster who lost £16,000, his home and his marriage after being wrongly pursued because of Horizon faults, was asked to speak to Ms Lambert as part of his ongoing bid to receive compensation.
He said a simple Google search revealed her name had come up during the Horizon public inquiry which concluded in December – a final report from chair Sir Wyn Williams is expected later this year.
“Given the fuss that was made about Caroline Richards why on earth would they put me in a meeting with anyone who’s got this past?” Mr Verrechia said.
“The meeting was uncomfortable – for me and her. She received an email in 2015 telling her ‘it’s all fine’ and to toe the line.
“She can’t then sit impartially and decide someone’s level of compensation.”
Conflicts of interest ‘not acted on’
Giving evidence at the public inquiry last November, Simon Recaldin, director of the Remediation Unit, admitted that the Post Office had not acted quickly enough to identify staff with “past roles” that may lead them to have a “conflict of interest” when working on redress.
A month later, the Post Office assured the Government’s independent Horizon Compensation Advisory Board that it had “agreed a plan to address the issue of remediation unit staff who had previously been employed in roles of interest to the inquiry”.
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However, Mr Verrechia believes this plan has not been sufficiently acted on.
“I don’t want my compensation being decided by people who had anything to do with what went on in the past, it’s just not right is it,” he said.
“Why can’t they recruit people who haven’t ever worked for the Post Office to these roles? Surely that would be better moving forward.
“Ms Lambert was uncomfortable, it’s not fair on her – surely she should be given a role that is nothing to do with this.
“It’s the people higher up I’m really annoyed about more than these individuals – just use some common sense.”
Post Office apology for past failings
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are sincerely sorry for past failings that have caused suffering to postmasters and are focused, alongside Government, on paying redress as quickly as possible so that people can move forward with their lives.
“We welcome the recent Government announcement that a new independent appeals process for applicants of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme will open later this month.
“Legal representatives for victims of the scandal will be written to later this month and we hope this new appeals process will resolve this individual’s claim as quickly as possible.”
The spokesperson added: “Ms Lambert has never had a role at Post Office that could be considered part of the ‘Past Roles’ review nor one of interest to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.”
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