00:00 Mr. Beale, I did want to make a short statement first, if I could.
00:04 Absolutely, you go ahead.
00:05 Right, thank you.
00:06 I would just like to say, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do this in person,
00:11 how sorry I am for all that sub-postmasters and their families and others have suffered
00:19 as a result of all of the matters that the Inquiries has been looking into for so long.
00:24 I followed and listened to all of the human impact statements and I was very affected by them.
00:34 I remember listening to one postmaster, whose name I noted, who said that he would like somebody
00:41 to go and stand outside his old post office with him so he could tell them exactly what he'd been through.
00:46 I would do that. I am very, very sorry.
00:50 I would also like to repeat the apology which is in my witness statement to Alan Bates,
00:55 to Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson from Second Sight, and to Lord Arbuthnot.
01:02 I and those I worked with made their work so much harder and I am very, very sorry for that.
01:09 My third apology is really about today because I will answer the questions truthfully
01:15 and I am very aware that they will be difficult to listen to for you and for me
01:21 and I ask your understanding in advance of that. Thank you.
01:26 Thank you.
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