Post office manager Angela van den Bogerd refuses offer of £140,000 to the family of postmaster who took his own life after being wrongly accused of fraud.

A Post Office executive who offered to pay £140,000 to the family of a postmaster who killed himself after being wrongly accused of fraud has denied it was ‘hush money’ .

The public inquiry into the Horizon computer system heard that Angela van den Bogerd offered money to the widow of Martin Griffiths after he walked in front of a bus, in a key scene in the ITV TV series Mr Bates V the Post Office.

The settlement was conditional on Gina Griffiths and the family signing a non-disclosure agreement waiving their claims against the Post Office.

Jason Beer KC, barrister leading the inquiry, said the deal left the “sword of Damocles” hanging over the heads of Ms Griffiths and her children.

He added that the money would be paid in installments to ensure Mr Griffiths’ relatives remained “silent” about the scandal.

Martin Griffiths from Cheshire killed himself in 2013 when he walked out in front of a bus after being hounded for £100,000 of “missing” money through the post.

Angela van den Bogerd, former Postmaster General, at the Horizon investigation

“You ensured that there was an NDA attached to this settlement, you agreed to the staggered payments to act as an incentive and you used the money as a tool to keep the matter quiet,” added Mr. Beer.

“These are installment payments through the Post Office as an incentive to hold a ‘sword of Damocles’ hanging over (Gina’s) head. You don’t get money unless you keep quiet.”

The late Mr Griffiths’ family wrote a letter to Bogerd calling the offer “disgusting” after he died on October 11, 2013 in hospital.

Her daughter Lauren said in an email dated September 2, 2014: “I understand you are writing to her what you discussed with my mother yesterday.

“It appears from what I have heard that you are offering ‘compensation’ of £140,000 on the condition that we abandon all action…

“No amount of financial compensation could replace the fact that the Post Office took our father away from our family, but put simply, £140,000 ‘compensation’ for our father’s life is simply disgusting.”

Mr Griffiths drove from his home in Cheshire along the A41 on September 23, 2013, after “being in a bad mood all week” due to mounting pressure at his agency and walked in front of the bus, dying three weeks later.

Only on May 2, its branch, Hope Farm Road, was attacked by two robbers armed with a sledgehammer and a crowbar and wearing balaclavas.

Mr Griffiths was injured in the attack as he fought bravely to try to stop the men from entering.

The Post Office initially held him responsible for the event, arguing he had failed to secure the safe and left the front door open and said he owed £38,000.

Ms van der Bogerd arriving at Aldwych House to give evidence to the Horizon inquiry

But a later review reduced the amount to £7,500. Mr Griffiths used his parents’ savings to keep his branch afloat.

Bogerd said the investigation in London before the Post Office’s Sir Wyn Williams settlements for staff who left the company included NDAs.

She argued that her main concern was family and that she was not interested in “stifling” things.

“My concern at the time was to facilitate this payment to Gina. It was never about keeping it quiet. At the time, the Post Office operated a “network transfer payment”, which was compensation paid to a postmaster for loss of office. »

The investigation continues.