Former top Post Office executive apologises for ‘devastation’ of Horizon scandal

A former top Post Office executive has said she is “truly sorry” for the “devastation” caused to wrongly convicted subpostmasters and their families.

Angela van den Bogerd, beginning her evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry in central London on Thursday, said she understood apologising “doesn’t change what’s happened”.

Ms van den Bogerd, who was played by Coronation Street actress Katherine Kelly in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, said she hoped her evidence would help the inquiry with getting the answers that subpostmasters “deserve”.

She said: “Saying sorry I know doesn’t change what’s happened.

“But I do want to say to everyone impacted by wrongful convictions and wrongful contract terminations that I am truly, truly sorry for the devastation caused to you, your family and friends.

“I hope my evidence will assist this inquiry with getting to the answers you and so many others deserve.”

Ms van den Bogerd held various roles throughout her 35-year career at the Post Office, starting off as a network change operations manager, then on to head of network services, head of partnerships, director of support services and the director of people and change.

She was appointed as the Post Office’s business improvement director in 2018, but stepped down from the role in 2020.

Errors in the Post Office’s Horizon IT system meant money appeared to be missing from many branch accounts when, in fact, it was not.

As a result, the government-owned organisation prosecuted more than 700 subpostmasters who were handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015.

The scandal represents one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK legal history. Since then, the Court of Appeal has quashed the convictions of more than 100 subpostmasters.

Hundreds of subpostmasters are still awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those whose convictions have been quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.