New hearing dates confirmed for key witnesses
The Inquiry has confirmed new dates to hear from former Post Office lawyer Jarnail Singh and former Post Office investigator David Posnett after evidence sessions were postponed earlier in November due to late disclosure of documents by the Post Office.
Inquiry lawyers have worked at pace including during evenings and weekends to review and process documents received late, and the hearing timetable has been kept updated. Mr Singh will now be heard on 30 November and 1 December and Mr Posnett on 5 and 6 December.
David Posnett’s evidence was postponed on 8 November after the Post Office revealed issues stemming from an email gateway software migration involving ‘Microsoft Exchange’.
Addressing the postponement earlier in November, Counsel to the Inquiry, Jason Beer KC, explained this “latest in a series of disclosure failings” involved a “very significant volume of material”.
The Inquiry’s legal team reviewed the late documents and has been able to reschedule Mr Posnett’s evidence for 5 and 6 December, dates previously set aside for former Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins. Mr Jenkins’ evidence also had to be postponed due to late disclosure by the Post Office. His evidence will be heard at a later date which is to be confirmed.
Former Post Office lawyer Jarnail Singh’s evidence also had to be postponed due to further late disclosure by the Post Office. Announcing the delay, Sir Wyn Williams expressed his “considerable regret and frustration” at having to delay hearing from another witness due to more disclosure failings by the Post Office.
The Inquiry received over two hundred documents from the Post Office in the days prior to Mr Singh’s scheduled evidence sessions.
Having reviewed the documents, the Inquiry is now able to hear evidence from Mr Singh on 30 November and 1 December.
Evidence from former Post Office investigator Lisa Allen was also postponed last week due to a separate disclosure issue. She will now give evidence to the Inquiry on 20 December.
The Inquiry continues to keep its witness timetable updated. Schedule updates are also posted on the Inquiry’s X (formerly Twitter) channel @PostOffInquiry.
