Paula Vennells is history but now at the Post Office Inquiry is Fujitsu distinguished engineer Gareth Jenkins - thread 4

[nauticant]

A continuation of this thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5094266-paula-vennells-was-done-the-other-week-the-post-office-inquiry-is-now-questioning-associates-and-others-thread-3

When the hearings are going on, live-streaming can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@postofficehorizonitinquiry947/featured

All of the previous hearings can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@postofficehorizonitinquiry947/videos

Have you tried Citizens' Advice? Shelter often give advice to tenants as well.

Tim Parker today, about to start.

It's fire alarm day.

I'm already distracted by the hair 😖

The hair is…quite something.

OMG, magnificent witness statement typo!

"The PO appointed a criminal..."

He setting the scene. Extensively. Very extensively.

Like tom baker from Dr who? Just needs the scarf 😂

I hope he's not another one who just want to talk rather than answer questions.

So Tim Parker's saying that he took on the job of sorting out this extremely complex organisation that was hemorrhaging taxpayers' money ('billions') in deep crisis.

Why?

But it's complex, very complex. So complex that he's had to waffle on about how complex it is. Despite losing some work like driving licences to on-line apps, it's still very complex.

Is that the fire alarm?

He didn’t look too pleased at his grandstanding being interrupted by the fire-drill 😂

Not short on self confidence is he 🤔

He can't recall much either.

Handover from Alice Perkins was 'a lunch'. Can't recall being told Paula Vennells was a crap CEO presiding over failure to deliver, despite there being cucial BIS documents about this lack of confidence in her as CEO. His feeling was she was 'highly thought of' because she was on the gravy train.

So that's it. He took the role because it's a gravy train job, where no-one ever has to really be accountable (so he thought), and he's displaying this insouciance today.

Is it coincidence that I'm getting hair product ads on this thread for 'thicker, stronger hair'? 😂

😂😂😂😂😂

Sorry, I'm catching up at 1.5 speed and a little behind. Still a bit mesmerised by the Hair.

Can't give a straight answer 🙄

Here we go. Lots of cash around means 'security issues'. It's his polite way of saying 'temptation'.

Now floundering a bit on being asked about the briefing notes and the PR guy Mark Davies. Parker as new Chair [in 2015] didn't realise that notes were actually coming from 'the comms guy', not Paula Vennells the CEO [about the prosecutions and publicity].

Now being asked about letter from Baroness Neville-Rolfe re the miscarriages of justice, sent to him (and copied to Vennells) just before he formally took up the role of Chairman.

'I'm not a lawyer ...'

Oh dear it was all so long ago, it was nine years ago, what do you mean by 'systemic'?

He's very vague about when he learnt Gareth Jenkins was 'an issue'. Can't remember. Can't remember if it in the context of the GLO. But very clear and at pains to emphasise it was very late in 'all this'.

Are we working up to 'I was too trusting'?

Is this the 'I was too trusting 'defence?