Postmaster in jail for murdering spouse says he was framed by dodgy Horizon system

Robin Garbutt, a postmaster on the time his spouse was bludgeoned to loss of life in 2010, has claimed that the Horizon system led to his conviction for her homicide.

Garbutt has all the time claimed that he’s harmless after his spouse, Diana, was overwhelmed to loss of life with a steel bar in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, on the morning of March 23, 2010, of their flat above the Post Office.

Despite the responsible verdict, the previous postmaster has provided a special model of occasions that led to his spouse’s loss of life and plenty of of his loyal clients on the Melsonby Village Shop and Post Office couldn’t imagine that he could be succesful for the homicide, with one saying that he was his “normal cheery self” shortly earlier than the killing.

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After detectives managed to search out no DNA proof to hyperlink Garbutt to the steel bar used to homicide Diana, it was information used from the Horizon system that went a great distance in securing his conviction. It appeared to point out that he had been stealing from the Post Office, and he was accused of killing his spouse to cowl it up.

The prosecution put ahead their model of occasions suggesting Garbutt had hidden his theft by falsely declaring the amount of cash saved within the put up workplace secure. Meanwhile, Garbutt claimed a person sporting a balaclava with a gun demanded he hand over £16,000, and mentioned that they “had” his spouse. After handing it over, he claimed he ran upstairs to search out his spouse useless.

Garbutt instructed The Guardian that unreliable information from the Horizon system “was used in court to make me look bad”.

But Diana’s mom Agnes Gaylor mentioned: “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.”

The jury was instructed that there have been three attainable causes he had for killing his spouse; both to make it appear to be an armed theft to cowl up his lacking money, to make it appear extra “real”, or that she found what he was doing and he wanted to verify she did not say something. It was additionally heard that Diana had joined a courting web site in 2009 had was actively receiving messages up till her loss of life.

At his trial in 2011, he was discovered responsible by a majority verdict of 10-2 and was given a life sentence serving a minimal of 20 years. Garbutt reportedly hopes to submit a recent attraction in opposition to his conviction.

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