Robin Garbutt: Postmaster jailed for wife's murder loses new appeal

The family of a postmaster jailed for killing his wife have said they want a retrial after losing a third bid to refer his case to the Court of Appeal.

Robin Garbutt is serving a 20-year minimum term for the murder of his wife, Diana Garbutt, 40, at their home in North Yorkshire in March 2010.

He was sentenced in 2011 but has always maintained his innocence.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said there was "no possibility" judges would overturn his conviction.

Mrs Garbutt was bludgeoned three times over the head with a metal bar as she slept in the couple's bedroom above the Melsonby Village Shop and Post Office, which they ran together.

Garbutt had claimed an armed robber made him hand over cash, claiming they had his wife, before he discovered her body.

His trial at Teesside Crown Court in 2011 was told that part of the reason he killed his wife was that he feared his theft of thousands of pounds from the post office was about to be discovered.

The family's third application to the CCRC relied on a scandal over the Post Office's faulty IT system, Horizon, in which more than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when the accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their sites.

It was described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, with dozens of convictions overturned.

However, the CCRC said following "a comprehensive review", it had decided there was "no real possibility" the Court of Appeal would overturn Garbutt's murder conviction.

In a statement, the independent body said: "Much of Mr Garbutt's application to the CCRC focused on the Post Office Horizon scandal, which has led to a number of fraud and theft convictions of former Post Office workers being overturned, many after referral by the CCRC.

"The CCRC decided this argument could not assist Mr Garbutt, as figures from the Horizon system were not essential to his conviction for murder.

"Other issues concerning scientific evidence were also considered, and the CCRC has now made a final decision not to refer his case for an appeal."

A 50-page report with full details of the CCRC's findings was being shared with the Garbutt family's legal team, it added.

Garbutt's sister Sallie Wood said she was "devastated" by the commission's decision.

Meanwhile, Mark Stilborn, Garbutt's brother-in-law, said the family felt "totally let down by the CCRC, disheartened and despondent".

"We feel like they haven't taken onboard or looked correctly at the new points we've put forward. They've given us a repetition of the last refusal.

"They've taken the post office evidence of theft out of the equation. They still feel the conviction would be safe. They say if we take that out, the case is still strong enough. How can that possibly be?

"We just want a retrial then we can have a fair and just trial."

In 2012, three Court of Appeal judges rejected Garbutt's bid against his murder conviction and ruled it was safe.

Mr Stilborn said new evidence had emerged since the 2011 trial, including discrepancies in forensic experts' judgements over Mrs Garbutt's time of death, new DNA material and financial information, as well as an eye witness account of a "vehicle acting suspiciously" at the time of the killing.

He said the family were due to discuss "the next steps forward" with their solicitor in the coming days.

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