Inquiry lawyer Jason Beer sought to refresh Rodric Williams’ memory yesterday by putting on display a series of emails and other messages written by him or sent to him.
They painted a picture of what he admitted was a “bunker mentality” within the post office, where a sub-postmaster activist was accused of “mischief” and an enquiry from the BBC was described as “puerile”.
Beer used these messages to look at what the post office knew and when – about problems with the Horizon system, about the unreliability of a key witness used in court cases.
Had the Post Office entered a cover-up mode, he was asked?
His answer was lawyerly: he wasn’t aware of a “positive decision” having been made to cover anything up, but “somebody probably could see that”.
Today, he faces more questions – not just from the softly incisive Beer, but also from lawyers acting on behalf of sub-postmasters themselves.
He may be asked whether the Post Office had a policy of trying to drag out legal proceedings as long as possible, so its opponents ran out of money.
Whatever happens, It’s unlikely to be an easy ride.
Be the first to comment