Former Post Office executive tells Horizon inquiry she blocked Paula Vennells’ number

Lesley Sewell said departed CEO had called for help ‘plugging gaps in her memory’ before select committee appearance

A former Post Office executive has told the inquiry into the Horizon scandal that she blocked Paula Vennells’s phone number after the company’s ex-CEO contacted her asking for help to “plug memory gaps” and to “avoid an independent inquiry”.

Lesley Sewell, who was chief information officer at the Post Office until she left in 2015, said that she had subsequently been contacted by her former boss four times in 2020 and 2021.