POL00086843 - Report into behaviour of security investigation re alleged fraud committed by Michael Mann, Post Office Manager, Turnstone Road Post Office

Evidence on official site

Report into the behaviour of the security investigation regarding the alleged fraud committed
by Michael Mann, Post Office Manager, Turnstone Road Post Office

Report by: Colin Stretch
Date: 9 December 2013

Introduction and Terms of Reference

This report details the findings from the series of fact finding interviews I completed at the
request of Fay Healey Chief HR Officer following the suicide of Michael Mann. The precise terms
of reference were as follows;-

The Head of Fraud letter contains direct allegations around the conduct of Mr Bradshaw and
Mrs Rose. These would appear proper to commit to an internal fact finding that should, to offer
maximum transparency, be conducted outside the line

Methodology

With the agreement of Angela Van Den Bogerd and Dave Pardoe the approach I adopted was to
interview the individuals employed by Post Office Ltd who attended Turnstone Road Post Office
on 16 August 2013. These individuals were;

Helen Rose and Steve Bradshaw — Security Managers

Janet Holding — Field Support Officer — Lead Auditor on 16 August 2013

Tina Clune and Stephen McNally — Field Support Officer- Support Auditors on 16 August 2013

l also interviewed Mick Wilkinson, SubPostmaster at St Anne’s Post Office Blackpool where
Mann had previously been employed as Post Office Manager and where an initial fraud had
been discovered. I also interviewed MK Vaish, the brother of Pardeep Vaish the SubPostmaster
at Turnstone Road, who was present on the morning on 16 August as store manager .

Summary of Findings

There are no grounds to support the allegations made by Mann

e All seven people interviewed were consistent in their responses that Bradshaw and
Rose had behaved professionally. This includes the views of Bradshaw and Rose
commenting upon their own and each other’s behaviour. During my interview with
Bradshaw he stated he would not have done anything any differently and that
he considered Helen Rose and himself to have conducted themselves
professionally. Bradshaw also added Mann’s partner Mr Edwards had been in
contact with him since Mr Mann’s death and in his opinion Mr Edwards did
not appear to have any problems with Mr Bradshaw.

e There was no evidence from any of the interviews that Bradshaw or Rose behaved in
a manner inconsistent with their role. Extract from interview with MK Vaish “all
Post Office employees had behaved totally professionally and in an
appropriate manner. Given the circumstances regarding the fraud and the
need for the audit team to attend and for the Post Office Investigation Team
to call the Police and conduct enquiries MK felt that all of the individuals
handled the situation as well as they could have done”. I considered this to be

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a key statement and give great weight as Vaish was effectively the witness
who saw most on 16" August 2013 and as the brother of a SubPostmaster
was independent.

All Post Office personnel involved in the audit and investigation behaved professionally

Clune , Holding and McNally all stated that normal procedures had been followed
Extract from interview with MK Vaish “ Vaish added there could be no
criticism of the audit or investigation team for how they’d handled things from
his perspective”

Wilkinson had seen no interaction between Bradshaw and Rose and Mann because
Mann had departed from St Anne’s Post Office in November 2012 prior to the fraud
being raised with Wilkinson in December 2012.

All seven interviewees were consistent in their views of the investigation and the
behaviour of the investigators.

Wilkinson had previously been employed by Post Office Ltd having taken redundancy
in 2002 and he had known Bradshaw in a professional capacity but did not associate
with him outside of work.

Wilkinson had not seen Bradshaw or Rose interact with Mann but he felt that “Steve
called a spade a spade and didn’t mess about with small talk” and that he was a very
good investigator. Wilkinson added that until December 2012 he had not me Rose
and had no previous knowledge of her but like Bradshaw he found her to be very
professional”

Mann’s behaviour was aggressive and confrontational at Turnstone Road towards the
Security Investigators

Conclusion

e Clune stated Mann had become more agitated and anxious when Bradshaw and
Rose arrived at the office. I believe this was because he realised that the audit
was part of a bigger investigation and that “he’d been found out”

¢ Holding observed Mann shouting to Vaish that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

¢ Wilkinson had not seen Bradshaw or Rose interact with Mann

e It is also clear from Wilkinson and Vaish’s interviews that Mann was well liked by
customers and popular with colleagues although he could

From the seven interviews conducted and from my own observations I believe that the content
and the consistency of replies from the three Post Office Auditors, the two Security Managers,
Mick Wilkinson and MK Vaish show that there are no grounds to support the allegations made

by Mann. I

do not believe that Bradshaw and Rose acted inappropriately.

Recommendations
- Investigate the reasons for Mann’s departure from WH Smith at Blackpool circa 2008 /9
- Investigate the reasons for Mann’s departure from Elswick Post Office circa 2007

The interview notes are attached at appendix A

Colin Stretch
9 December 2013

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