'They feel like crocodile tears' – wrongly jailed sub-postmistress questions Paula Vennells' emotional evidence

One of those whose lives were ruined is Rubbina Shaheen.

Mrs Shaheen was jailed for 12 months in 2010 after a computer glitch caused a £40,000 shortfall in accounts at Greenfields Post Office in Shrewsbury.

Her conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal after the Post Office's computer database, known as Horizon, was found to be faulty.

This week has seen the former Post Office chief executive, Paula Vennells, giving evidence to the inquiry examining the scandal.

During her first day of evidence she repeatedly broke down in tears as she insisted she had been "misled" by staff about the safety of the prosecutions.

Speaking from her home in Brockton, with her husband Mohamed, Mrs Shaheen, said she did not believe Vennells' apology was genuine – and accused her of crocodile tears over her emotional performance.

She said: "I was just angry. Especially when she apologised. There was no sympathy behind it, no heartfelt sympathy.

"When we were crying when we were accused no one came to rescue us, why should she get some sympathy."

Mrs Shaheen added: "They feel like crocodile tears. If you were genuinely crying about it she would have cried on a bit longer. A few minutes later she was back to normal again."

There have been repeated moments where the public gallery at the inquiry has been left groaning at Vennells' claim not to recall in response to questions.

It is the first time she has spoken publicly about the scandal for nearly a decade.

Mrs Shaheen said she did not understand how Vennells had not taken her own decision to step aside due to all the concerns raised over the prosecutions.

She said: "If she knew about what was going on, the prosecutions and the convictions, she could have come out into the media and said 'I am sorry, I know what's going on, I am leaving the Post Office because I cannot cope with it'."

She added: "How can the CEO of a company not know what was going on underneath her nose."

Mrs Shaheen said there was frustration listening to answers throughout the inquiry hearings – with the feeling that witnesses were reading from a script.

She said: "When we have been listening to the inquiry, the previous ones, the other members of the board, what they have been saying, you come to the conclusion she will say the same thing and it sounds like they have all got a script to follow."

One of the central points of Vennells' questioning has been why investigators Second Sight were selected instead of Deloitte to carry out an investigation into the prosecutions.

During the inquiry it has been suggested that the choice meant a more narrow focus on cases.

Mr Shaheen said: "At the end of the day the fact is they wanted to hide.

"Why look at a handful of cases when there were so many? And the Deloitte report indicated there was a bug in the system, why did they not follow it up?"

Rubbina said she had little sympathy for those who had played a part in hiding the miscarriage of justice, and delayed the uncovering of the issues.

She said she had been left "penniless and homeless," after her prosecution, adding that those responsible should be held accountable for their part.

She described Vennells as a "disgrace", adding: "At the end of the day she was rewarded for what was done to us."

The inquiry had been a double edged sword for Mrs Shaheen and her husband, forcing them to relive the nightmare – but also helping to shed more light on their disgraceful treatment.

She said: "Every day is hard for us because we are re-living it all over again, day in day out, you are never away from it. And the stress is there, nobody can take the stress away from you."

But, she added: "At least we can move on with clear conscience – all of us were accused of something we didn't do and this inquiry has proved that."