Robin Garbutt, a post office owner serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife Diana, hopes to submit a fresh appeal, claiming the discredited Horizon computer system was used to wrongly frame him. Diana was bludgeoned to death in their flat above the post office in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, in March 2010. Garbutt has always maintained his innocence, with many former customers visiting him in prison and refusing to believe he was capable of the murder.
Garbutt insists a man wearing a balaclava and holding a gun forced him to hand over £16,000 cash, claiming they 'had' his wife. He says he handed over the cash and ran upstairs to find Diana dead. He was convicted in 2011 on circumstantial evidence, with a jury split 10-2. No DNA evidence linked him to the murder or the metal bar used to kill Diana.
The prosecution relied partly on evidence from a Post Office investigator using Horizon data, which purportedly showed Garbutt was stealing money and killed his wife to cover up the theft. The investigator told the jury the pattern of high overnight cash declarations was one 'I have seen replicated across many Post Office Limited fraud cases in the past'. The jury was told he may have staged an armed robbery to cover up losses, killing Diana to make it look real or to silence her.
Garbutt lost his first appeal in 2012 and has been rejected three times by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). He now hopes the government's decision to quash all Horizon-dependent convictions could pave the way for a fresh appeal. He said the unreliable Horizon data 'was used in court to make me look bad', adding that he and Diana often had problems reconciling balances with the system.
Diana's mother, Agnes Gaylor, dismissed Garbutt's claims, saying: '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.' Garbutt was given a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 20 years and will not be considered for release until October 2030.
