Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells has admitted it was “possibly” her hope that a mediation scheme with subpostmasters would “minimise compensation”.

It came as the 65-year-old gave evidence for a second day at the Horizon IT Inquiry, where she continued to grow emotional over questions after a first day which saw her become visibly upset on a number of occasions and break down in tears twice.

Ms Vennells accepted that an email she sent in August 2013 which said “the hope of mediation was to avoid or minimise compensation” sounded like subpostmasters were only welcome on the scheme if they agreed to receive a “pat on the head and a token payment”.

She told the Horizon IT inquiry she did not believe the mediation scheme, set up for people who believed they had been wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office, was for paying out “substantial figures”.

In an email from August 2013 to Post Office lawyer Susan Crichton, Ms Vennells wrote: “When we discussed this, the hope of mediation was to avoid or minimise compensation.”

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