Paula Vennells: Former Post Office boss stripped of CBE for 'bringing honours system into disrepute'

Paula Vennells, a former Post Office boss who was in charge of the company during the Horizon scandal, has had her CBE stripped by the King.

She has officially forfeited her CBE for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”, according to a list published on the Cabinet Office website.

Ms Vennells received the honour in 2019 but faced growing pressure to hand back her gong after increased momentum behind the victims of the IT scandal.

She was chief executive officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019.

Ms Vennells voluntarily announced she would hand back the honour after more than 1.2 million people signed a petition urging the government to strip her of it.

It all comes after the release of an ITV drama which revealed the level of injustice in the Horizon scandal.

Some 736 sub-postmasters and mistresses were convicted of fraud and theft between 1999 and 2015, due to accounting errors created by the Horizon IT system which were blamed on staff.

British grime artist Wiley has also forfeited his MBE according to a list published on the Cabinet Office website, after "bringing the honours system into disrepute".

Referred to as the 'Godfather of grime', Wiley whose real name is Richard Cowie, had originally been honoured for his services to music back in 2017.

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