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‘I don’t know how she slept at night’: Will Mellor blasts ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells after ITV drama about scandal

Vennells has since given update following waves of public outrage.

Danny Jones - 9th January 2024

Local actor Will Mellor has spoken out about British businesswoman Paula Vennells following calls to have her stripped of her CBE following the recent dramatisation of the infamous Post Office scandal.

Mellor stars as one of the victims in the recent Mr Bates vs Post Office drama by ITV, which follows the landmark legal case which ran from 1999 to 2015, and was more than happy to share his feelings on the true story.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, the Two Pints star said, “I don’t know how she slept at night”, adding that he couldn’t understand how the former Post Office CEO and those involved could continue to deceive so many “knowing they were ruining other people’s lives who had done nothing wrong”.

The 47-year-old Greater Manchester performer plays Lee Castleton, a subpostmaster and victim of the scandal from Bridlington in Yorkshire who was taken to court by the Post Office.

Being asked by interviewer Anna Jameson whether he supports the petition to have Vennells stripped of her CBE — which has already been signed by over 1.2 million Brits — Mellor quickly replied, “100%”.

The Stockport local went on to say, “All I know is what I know and I don’t want to speculate because there’s government involved in all this but, from what we know, she’s going to church, she’s a priest preaching about being a good person — I don’t know how she slept at night”.

For those yet to have watched the four-part series or unfamiliar with the scandal, in general, hundreds of postal workers were wrongly prosecuted or convicted between 1999 and 2015 for alleged false accounting, theft and fraud due to a glitchy software system, Horizon.

Mellor also told the Radio Times of his emotional meeting with the real-life Castleton, who he said “was a bit hesitant coming forward” as it was obviously “a bit hard for him to go back and revisit it.”

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He went on to detail their first meeting, revealing: “We hugged it out and we both got really emotional. I know, because I played him, what he’s been through, and he knows I know what he went through, and I emotionally went through a bit of it myself doing it for him. So we both had a moment and it was amazing, it really was.

“I just said, ‘I hope I’ve done you proud mate’, and he said he was over the moon when he heard I was playing him. He’s messaged me since saying he’s watched it and he was overwhelmed with how much he enjoyed it, and he thanked me for what I did.”

Mellor is by no means the only one who has slammed the state-owned private company, with more and more people having now signed the petition to stip Vennells of her title, having been royally appointed as a Commander of the British Empire back in 2019.

Following the huge backlash from the general public, the 65-year-old has now confirmed she will hand back her CBE with immediate effect.

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Featured Image — BBC Radio Manchester/Post Office/The Two Pints Podcast (via IG)