Ex-Post Office IT chief insists he will give evidence over subpostmaster scandal after Horizon inquiry was told he 'couldn't be found'

The former Post Office IT chief has insisted he will give evidence over the subpostmaster scandal after the Horizon inquiry was told he could not be found. 

Mike Young accused former Post Office boss Paula Vennells of trying to put the blame for the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters over missing money on the faulty Horizon IT system. 

Mr Young was in charge of computer systems for the Post Office between 2008 and 2012, when many postmasters were wrongly accused of stealing.  

Ms Vennells, 65, last week said the IT boss was one of the five people responsible for the scandal while giving evidence at the Horizon IT inquiry. 

Mr Young told The Mirror: 'Paula needs an out. She's using me and four others. Hey, she's got to do what she thinks is right for her.' 

He added: 'She was the CEO.' He added: 'I don't bear any responsibility for the Post Office scandal.' 

Activist subpostmaster Alan Bates last night said he was disappointed by Mr Young's comments, adding: 'They are all passing the buck.' 

Chair Sir Wyn Williams said the inquiry had been 'unable to trace' Mr Young. Ms Vennells said she does not 'know what he's doing now'. 

Mr Young has reportedly been working for a research project funded by the taxpayer and run by the University of Exeter's business school. 

He added: 'I've spoken to the enquiry well before last week. The back office doesn't know what the front office has done. I've reached out. 

'They reached out to me on the 2nd of April, I replied on the 2nd of April.' 

It comes as Ms Vennells cried again last week while giving evidence at the Horizon IT inquiry after insisting that she 'loved' the company.

The shamed former CEO told the hearing in London that there are 'no words' that will make the 'sorrow and what people have gone through any better'.

Ms Vennells - who insisted she 'worked as hard as I possibly could' - broke down in tears, after doing the same on the first day of her evidence. 

She became emotional as she told the inquiry: 'I loved the Post Office, I gave it… I worked as hard as I possibly could to deliver the best Post Office for the UK.

'What I failed to do was I failed to recognise … the imbalance of power between the institution and the individual. I let these people down - I am very aware of that.'

Ms Vennells was accused of being in 'la-la land' and responsible for her own downfall during questioning by Edward Henry KC, a lawyer representing subpostmasters.

She added that she lost all employment after the Court of Appeal passed a judgment which ultimately led to a number of subpostmaster convictions being overturned.