PAULA Vennells broke down in tears as she gave evidence over the damning Horizon IT scandal at today's public inquiry.
The disgraced former Post Office boss is being grilled Aldwych House in London over the heartbreaking sub-postmaster stories.
She earned more than £5million as the Post Office's chief executive between 2012 and 2019, a time during the faulty Horizon IT era.
The system failure saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted for theft, fraud and false accounting between 2000 and 2014.
It was catapulted into the spotlight after ITV aired a drama titled Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, with damage still being done today.
Vennells, who was stripped of her CBE by the King this year, sobbed as she faced questions at Wednesday's public inquiry hearing.
"I fully accept now that the Post Office knew that. Personally I didn't know that and I'm incredibly sorry that it happened to those people and to so many others."
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She went on to say "how sorry I am for all that subpostmasters and their families… have suffered", adding: "I followed and listened to all of the human impact statements.
"I was very affected by them. I remember listening to one postmaster whose name I noted who said that he would like somebody to go and stand outside his old Post Office with him so he could tell them exactly what he had gone through.
"I would do that. I am very, very sorry." She was quizzed over Martin Griffiths, a father-of-two who took his own life after being bombarded by the Post Office.
He was probed over an alleged missing £60,000, as well as ordered to pay back some of £50,000 taken from his Post Office in an armed robbery.
"In every email that I wrote on this, my first concern was for Mr Griffiths and his family. Sorry is an inadequate word. I'm just so sorry that Mr Griffiths is not here today."
The public inquiry continues into the Post Office.
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