Postmasters call for retrial of convicted murderer

Robin Garbutt, pictured outside Teesside Crown Court in 2011

Victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal have backed calls for the case of a sub-postmaster convicted of killing his wife to be re-examined.

Robin Garbutt was found guilty in 2011 of murdering his wife Diana at their North Yorkshire home after a trial which included evidence from the flawed computer system.

Former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton, who was wrongly convicted by faulty Horizon software, is one of a number of sub-postmasters to call for a retrial for Garbutt.

Diana's mother has previously said she believes her son-in-law, who has failed with three previous appeal attempts, is guilty and continues to hold that belief.

Garbutt's 40-year-old wife was found dead in the flat above the Post Office branch the couple ran in the North Yorkshire village of Melsonby in 2010.

She had been struck over the head with a metal bar.

Garbutt claimed he and his wife were the victims of an armed robbery, telling police a man forced him to open his Post Office safe at gunpoint and hand over £16,000 before he was able to run upstairs, where he discovered Diana's body.

But at his trial, the prosecution said he had staged the robbery and had been stealing money from his branch.

Prosecutors said he then killed Diana, fearing his actions were going to be discovered.

Garbutt's lawyers applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) last year to have his case sent back to the Court of Appeal, with the commission still considering the application.

In a Guardian interview in 2024, Agnes Gaylor, Diana's mother, said: "It's obvious to anyone that Robin is taking advantage of the Horizon scandal to gain publicity. I don't believe he's going to get far with it."

Her family was approached again earlier in October and did not wish to add any further comment.

Diana Garbutt, 40, was found dead in the Melsonby property in 2010

There was no physical evidence linking Garbutt to the murder, with a key facet of the case against him based on data from the Horizon system and how it was interpreted by the Post Office.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted for stealing money had their convictions overturned after errors with the Horizon software were revealed.

Mr Castleton, who lives in Scarborough, is now suing the Post Office and is supporting Garbutt's case for a retrial.

He said: "It needs to be put in front of a judge. I firmly believe that he's got an entitlement to be reheard, just on the basis of what we've already heard on the background of everything and what I already know from the Post Office saga.

"I've been there and I'm currently fighting myself so I understand what a painful part of the journey that is."

The latest application by Garbutt's legal team is the fourth they have submitted, with the previous three all having failed.

His solicitor, Martin Rackstraw, said the new bid "relies on new evidence and developments".

Lee Castleton, from Scarborough, is supporting Garbutt's case for a retrial

Dr Michael Naughton, a veteran justice campaigner and academic at the University of Bristol, helped to prepare the application.

"The new evidence in this is showing that half of all of the figures relied upon in Robin's trial have now been shown to be invalid," he said.

"Entirely new evidence that wasn't previously available to anybody - not to the solicitor, not to Robin, not to the world."

Another of the wrongly convicted sub-postmasters, Seema Misra, who was jailed for 15 months, is also backing the calls for a retrial.

"When I heard about Robin's story it seemed like so much injustice happened and I can really connect with that," she said.

Dr Michael Naughton, a veteran justice campaigner, has backed Garbutt's appeal

In a statement, the CCRC said: "An application has been received in relation to this case and a review is under way.

"It would be inappropriate to comment any further while the review is ongoing."

North Yorkshire Police, which led the original investigation, did not offer further comment.

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