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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →“I think you knew” was Moya Greene’s accusation to Paula Vennells about problems with the Post Office’s Horizon system. Vennells denied it. The exchange, discussed at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, records two competing accounts; it does not by itself establish what Vennells knew or when.
What did Moya Greene mean by “How could you not have known?”
During Paula Vennells’s evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry on 22 May 2024, counsel Jason Beer KC asked her about text messages with Greene, the former Royal Mail chief executive who had been Vennells’s boss. Greene had written, “I think you knew.” The exchange came after renewed public attention to the Horizon scandal following an ITV drama in January 2024 and as Greene said she had learned more from the inquiry and a parliamentary committee. Computer Weekly reported on the messages and their context.
In the messages, Greene challenged Vennells about what she knew and why she had not sought an independent review. Greene said she had asked Vennells twice and suggested a review reporting to her. The phrase “How could you not have known?” was part of Greene’s challenge, not an inquiry conclusion.
How did Paula Vennells respond?
Vennells replied to Greene, “No Moya, that isn’t the case.” In her inquiry evidence, she said she had not understood Greene to be accusing her specifically of knowing about bugs, errors or defects. She said she thought Greene might instead be suggesting there had been a conspiracy or cover-up.
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When asked how she could not have known, Vennells said the inquiry had taught her things she had not known and that she wished she had known more: “I wished I had known.” She pointed to management information, possible limits on what Fujitsu shared with the Post Office, and a lack of corporate memory as possible explanations. These were her account of how information may not have reached her, not independent findings that settle what she knew. The 22 May 2024 inquiry transcript records her answers.
Why did Greene’s view change?
Greene gave further evidence to the inquiry on 19 July 2024. She said the evidence presented there had led her to believe that Vennells knew there were faults in Horizon. “What changed my mind is the evidence that has come out of this inquiry,” Greene said. She also said executives had understated the gravity of the situation.
Greene recalled seeking a root-and-branch review after receiving a 2011 letter from Lord Arbuthnot. Her July testimony was Greene’s assessment, informed by evidence she said she had since encountered; it was not proof of Vennells’s state of mind. The Guardian reported Greene’s evidence.
Greene’s accusation and Vennells’s answer
| Account | What it says | Timing and basis |
|---|---|---|
| Moya Greene | She believed Vennells knew about faults in Horizon. | Greene’s January 2024 message said “I think you knew.” In July 2024, she told the inquiry that evidence presented there had changed her view. |
| Paula Vennells | She denied Greene’s accusation and said she had not known things that later emerged. | In May 2024, Vennells described what she said she had understood and cited possible information and communication gaps. |
Greene had been Vennells’s boss at Royal Mail; the Post Office separated from Royal Mail Group in 2012. Their former working relationship gives context to the exchange, but does not resolve the dispute.
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What the exchange does—and does not—establish
The messages establish that Greene accused Vennells of knowing and that Vennells denied it. The later inquiry evidence shows Greene explaining why she believed Vennells knew, while Vennells described why she said she had not known more. Those accounts should remain distinct from any formal inquiry finding about Vennells’s knowledge or when she may have acquired it.
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