THE POST OFFICE’S “malignant culture” destroyed the lives of the victims of the Horizon IT scandal, not the system, an inquiry heard today.

Ex-chief executive Paula Vennells was “more bored than outraged by subpostmasters’ complaints” as more than 900 were prosecuted due to the faulty system making it look like money was missing from their accounts, said Edward Henry KC.

“Such heartlessness came from the top,” said the KC in his closing submission to Horizon IT scandal inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams.

The company’s “corrosive prejudice” towards subpostmasters and its “desire for absolute control” over them was the “incubator for these terrible events” between 1999 and 2015, he added.

“The subpostmasters’ plaintive cries for help were dismissed,” he said.

“People were ruined, people were bankrupted, people were imprisoned, there were atrocious miscarriages of justice, people died.

“There was a culture of contempt, ridicule, even hatred towards the subpostmasters and their complaints.

“They were all ‘crooks’ — and of course, like all culture, the prejudice was top down.”

Sam Stein KC, who represents other subpostmasters, said Ms Vennells was among a seven-strong “rogue gallery of the Post Office.”

Former director Angela Van Den Bogerd and Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw were also included.

She is alleged to have given false evidence at the High Court in 2019 while he is accused of acting like a “mafia gangster” towards subpostmasters.

Mr Stein also mentioned leading Horizon engineer Gareth Jenkins, who is currently the subject of a Metropolitan Police investigation on suspicion of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Ex-Post Office lawyer Jarnail Singh, former chairwoman Alice Perkins and George Thompson from the National Federation of Subpostmasters completed the gallery “memorable for their lies and incompetence.”

In written submissions made by Ms Vennells’ legal team, the former chief executive continued to deny knowledge of the extent of bugs in the Horizon system which subsequently led to wrongful convictions.

In its written submissions, the Post Office said: “Some of the evidence has been deeply uncomfortable for [the Post Office] to hear and the mistakes that were made, and opportunities missed, when viewed through the sharp prism of hindsight, are ones which [the Post Office] deeply regrets.”

Hundreds of subpostmasters are still awaiting compensation despite the previous government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

The inquiry continues.