Post Office investigated sub-postmaster sitting on its own board

Elliot Jacobs was appointed as a director in the wake of the Horizon scandal, and inquiry into him prompted furious response from chairman

The Post Office investigated a sub-postmaster who sits as a director on its own board, prompting a furious response from its chairman.
The Telegraph can disclose that a Post Office team led by its chief legal officer launched an inquiry into Elliot Jacobs, who was specially appointed a non-executive director to represent sub-postmasters in the wake of the Horizon scandal.
The investigation so upset Henry Staunton, the Post Office’s chairman, that he angrily confronted Ben Foat, the company’s group general counsel. Sources say it contributed to Mr Staunton’s sacking by Kemi Badenoch, raising further questions about why she got rid of him.
Friends of Mr Staunton accept he “raised his voice” at the meeting but deny claims of bullying raised by Ms Badenoch this week.
The Post Office confirmed on Friday that it had been investigating Mr Jacobs, an award-winning sub-postmaster, but that its inquiries had now concluded. It is understood no wrongdoing was found over an alleged discrepancy in the accounts of a few thousand pounds.
Mr Jacobs was appointed to the board in 2021 as part of an attempt by the Post Office to show it had “learned from past mistakes” and to change the culture of the organisation that had led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters as a result of its faulty Horizon IT system.
But it still launched its own investigation into Mr Jacobs, who runs eight post offices in north London, over an accounting discrepancy. The Post Office still uses the Horizon IT system at the centre of the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
In a draft email to Nick Read, the Post Office’s chief executive, that was copied into Mr Staunton, Mr Jacobs complained that his own reputation was “widely and severely tarnished” by the Post Office investigation into him.
Mr Jacobs wrote in an email sent on Jan 24: “The culture that PMs [postmasters] are ‘guilty’ and ‘on the take’ is embedded in this company and whilst we continue to employee 40+ people who ensured innocent people were found guilty and who continue to believe that mantra, this will never change.”
He complained the Post Office employed “untouchables” working in the investigations department under the control of Mr Foat who “investigate everything and everyone”, adding: “This is not a normal approach to governance or oversight.”
Mr Jacobs said in the email he had raised his treatment with Mr Foat. He wrote: “My view that I was deemed guilty until proven innocent is something I had previously told Foat directly. My reputation was widely and severely tarnished by the way it was handled (without any confidentiality) and the fact that even until today I have not had a letter confirming the investigation is closed is again on Foat – as legal have not released a letter yet. That is disgraceful.”
It is understood that Mr Staunton confronted Mr Foat over the investigation. Mr Staunton was sacked by Ms Badenoch on Jan 27, three days after Mr Jacobs sent his email. It is unclear when Mr Staunton held his meeting with Mr Foat.
Mr Staunton, 75, formerly the finance director of ITV, has told friends it was the only time he lost his temper during his 13-month tenure as Post Office chairman.
Friends have said he is unaware of any bullying allegation against him but that the meeting with Mr Foat was the one occasion he could think of that could elicit such a complaint.
One friend said: “The only thing that Henry can think of is he was very angry that the Post Office was investigating a senior sub-postmaster who was also a non-executive director. Henry called in the legal director and said: ‘What are you doing? You should not be investigating these people’.
“Henry had words with Ben Foat. He told him it was completely unacceptable behaviour. He is the only person he had crossed words with in his time at the Post Office.”
The friend said: “You cannot bully the head of legal. But you can’t also on the one hand be accused of failing to get a grip and then on the other be sacked when you’re just trying to do the job you’ve been asked to do.”
A second source also confirmed the row, adding: “There was a prickly relationship between the two of them [Staunton and Foat].”
The source said Mr Jacobs had been upset at the way he was treated by the Post Office investigation team and that Mr Staunton was furious that a member of his board was being investigated.
“Elliot [Jacobs] felt he was being interrogated quite aggressively. He felt what was being done to him was in a sense what had been done to previous postmasters. Henry took exception to the way they were dealing with it. You cannot treat a non-exec director like this,” said the source.
Mr Jacobs passed a request for comment to the Post Office. The Post Office confirmed that there had been an investigation into Mr Jacobs but that had now been concluded. It declined to comment further on the nature of the investigation or its findings.
A Post Office spokesman said: “Since 2019, the Post Office has been delivering cultural and operational changes across the business, with ongoing feedback and input from postmasters, as well as the lessons emerging from the Horizon inquiry. However, we are under no illusion that there remains much work to do. We are committed to change, ensuring that the wrongs of the past are not repeated and putting postmasters at the heart of the business.”