Horizon IT scandal investigator tells inquiry Post Office was ‘sabotaging our efforts’

Paula Vennells, the former chief executive of the Post Office, ‘attempted to steer away’ investigators looking into the Horizon scandal, the inquiry was told. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA

An investigator appointed to look into concerns about the Post Office’s Horizon IT system in 2012 came to believe that he was “dealing with a cover-up” by the state-owned body, which made “various threats” against him, a public inquiry has heard.

Ian Henderson, a chartered accountant, and his colleague Ron Warmington, who ran Second Sight Investigations, were appointed in 2012 to review cases of post office operators after MPs raised concerns about possible miscarriages of justice involving the Post Office’s Horizon IT system. Second Sight’s fees were paid by the Post Office, which had agreed to cooperate with the investigation.