Alan Cook, the group’s managing director from 2006 to 2010, sent an email that was read aloud to the public investigation into the Horizon IT disaster.
He stated during his testimony on Friday that he would “regret for the rest of my life” this expression.
Approximately 200 subpostmasters were prosecuted while Mr. Cook was in charge.
He added that, in spite of his position of authority, he was “unaware” that the Post Office had filed criminal charges against specific people and that, at the time he held the position, the Post Office “did not feel like it had a crisis on its hands.”
Subpostmistress Janet Skinner, who had to struggle for justice for a long time after being unfairly imprisoned, has disregarded Mr. Cook’s testimony, claiming that sitting at the head of the table had damaged people’s lives.
“For some strange reason there is a steadily building nervousness about the accuracy of the Horizon system and the press are on it now as well,” Mr. Cook said in an email to a press officer at Royal Mail Group in October 2009.
