THREE men have told a jury how they had relationships with murder victim Diana Garbutt.

Divorcee Craig Hall said he would have “cheeky banter”

on Facebook with Mrs Garbutt late at night.

Mr Hall, who moved to Melsonby in 2008 after separating from his wife, told Teesside Crown Court: “I think I said if my wife had had your interest in sex I wouldn’t have got divorced.”

The witness gave evidence yesterday on day ten of Robin Garbutt’s trial for his wife’s murder.

The 45-year-old is accused of beating Mrs Garbutt to death in the living quarters of The Village Shop and Post Office, in Melsonby, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, on March 23 last year.

Mr Hall denied having a physical relationship with Mrs Garbutt, but said the couple would go mountain biking.

He said Mrs Garbutt told him that she and her husband were going through a “rough patch”.

He said she asked him about his divorce, including how long it was taking.

“I think she said that Robin was going to pay for a house or a place in the village,” he added.

Asked by David Hatton, prosecuting, if Mrs Garbutt said she was happy, the witness said: “She was happy but not with everything – the sex.

“Robin wasn’t interested.”

Mr Hall admitted the couple would discuss what they would like to do together, and what they had done.

He said Mrs Garbutt told him that the couple had seen a counsellor and “things were okay”.

The court also heard from John Illingworth, who told the court he had been “intimate on a settee” with Mrs Garbutt.

The witness said he was living at a house in York in December 2008 when the Garbutts came to stay with the owner.

Mr Illingworth said: ‘‘It was very cloudy, because we were both very drunk.’’ The witness said Mrs Garbutt later told him that she had confessed to her husband about what happened.

Jamie Hill, defending, said: “You don’t know whether she told him you had kissed, cuddled or had sex?”

He replied: “It was very cloudy, I remember her saying, ‘Whatever you are doing, you have to stop this because of Robin’.”

When he heard Mr Garbutt knew about the incident, Mr Illingworth asked if he should expect a visit from the husband.

“She replied ‘Robin’s not like that’,” he said.

Kevin Heapey told the court that he had kissed Mrs Garbutt, his wife’s cousin, after a night out in Wales in March, 2009.

He said that he later rang Mr Garbutt to apologise after having a fight with his wife, who knocked his tooth out.

“He said something like ‘let’s leave it at that’,” said Mr Heapey.

The witness admitted that he and Mrs Garbutt’s relationship was “starting to evolve”.

However, it ended after the incident in Wales.

Mr Heapey said that Mrs Garbutt emailed him in April 2009, but that he deleted the message without reading it.

He was unable to say if the email was similar to a note addressed to him that was found in a Filofax at the post office after the murder.

The jury also heard yesterday how Mrs Garbutt had an account on dating website, Badoo.

The account received a message at 1.23am on the morning of the murder from Sam, 30, from Leeds.

It read: “Hi, you look pretty.”

However, the message was never opened, the court heard.

The jury was told that they will visit the post office in Melsonby on Tuesday.

Mr Garbutt denies murder.

The trial continues.