Copyright: BBC
A large contingent of sub-postmasters have turned up to hear Angela van den Bogerd’s evidence at the inquiry today, including Parmod Kalia.
Parmod, a former Postmaster in Orpington, was given a six month prison sentence in 2001 after being falsely accused of stealing £22,000. His conviction was overturned in 2021.
In 2015, he wrote a letter to Post Office boss Paula Vennells asking her to reinvestigate his case. Angela van den Bogerd replied on her behalf, and Parmod described how he “broke down” when he read her response.
“Looking at the letter, she is clearly saying the Horizon system has been tried and tested, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s robust. She’s still saying that in 2015, despite everything that’s happened already,” he tells the BBC.
But it was the final paragraph of the letter that upset Parmod the most.
“She basically said, ‘if you feel there’s been a miscarriage of justice, get a solicitor and come and see us in court’”, he said.
“It knocked me back at the time. I literally collapsed on the floor.”
He says van den Bogerd’s appearance is the biggest moment of the inquiry for him so far.
“I’m going to the inquiry with a view to possibly seeing any remote, smallest chance of any remorse that she may have.
“I need to know. Has she finally understood and accepted where she was wrong? And maybe put her hands up and say ‘yeah, sorry’. That would mean a lot to us”.