Robin Garbutt submits third application for review of Melsonby post office murder charge

Robin Garbutt was found guilty of killing his wife, Diana, after her body was found in the living quarters above their post office in Melsonby, North Yorkshire, on March 23, 2010.

As the tenth anniversary of her death approaches, Garbutt has again applied for his case to be reviewed.

Diana Garbutt 40, whose husband, Robin Garbutt was convicted at Teesside Crown Court of her murder at the post office they ran in Melsonby, North Yorkshire

He now faces a three month wait to hear if the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) will reopen the investigation.

His family and friends, including Jane Metcalfe, who has spoken publicly about what she believes is his wrongful conviction, are hopeful that following the "Post Office Horizon" case, more weight will be put behind a potential appeal.

Last year, the Post Office admitted it “got things wrong in our dealings with a number of postmasters” and is to pay almost £58m to settle the dispute.

Robin Garbutt

A group of 550 claimants had joined a civil action to win compensation last year, alleging the Horizon IT system – which was installed between 1999 and 2000 – contained a large number of defects and led to many wrongly being accused of fraud.

Ms Metcalfe said she hopes the Horizon case would work in Garbutt’s favour as one of the lines of prosecution had been that he had been stealing from the Post Office.

Campaigners supporting Robin Garbutt

She said: “We have been supported by lawyers and journalists who believe, like us, that Robin was wrongfully convicted.

“Robin has applied to the the Criminal Case Review Commission for the third time in the hope his case can be reopened. We believe there is a mountain of evidence to support Robin, so we hope this time the CCRC will agree to investigate.”

Last year, Ms Metcalfe who knows Garbutt from when he lived in York, spoke at a vigil at the Royal Courts of Justice in London attended by more than 100 people. She also spoke to a big crowd at the Innovation of Justice conference at the University of Law in the city, and has also attended events at Bristol University.

She said: "The event in Bristol was taken by Doctor Michael Naughton, founder of `Empowering the Innocent'. He has chosen a handful of cases that he and his team want to use as examples of shocking miscarriages. He is calling for urgent reform of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) or for it to be replaced with a new group that is fit for the purpose of assisting innocent victims to overturn their wrongful convictions.”

Mrs Garbutt, 40, was found beaten to death in an upstairs bedroom at the property after her husband dialled 999 and said armed robbers had burst in and attacked her.

Police and paramedics initially responded to a report of an armed robbery and detectives appealed for help to catch a man wearing a balaclava with a gun. However, they arrested Garbutt on suspicion of murdering his wife three weeks later.

During his four-week trial, the jury heard he had debts of £30,000 on six credit cards, his wife had relationships with three other men, had signed up to a dating site and had discussed moving out.

Garbutt lost an appeal against his conviction in 2012, meaning he would have to complete a 20 year minimum term life sentence.

Mrs Garbutt’s mother, Agnes Gaylor, bought the Village Shop and Post Office in Melsonby from relatives of her former son-in-law.

Mrs Gaylor, who is thought to have paid about £130,000 for the end-of-terrace building, said in 2014 that she intended to finish off the work on the kitchen that was started by her daughter before her death.

The property was put back on the market with a guide price of £325,000 in June 2018.