The court heard Robin Garbutt killed Diana before opening their Post Office as if nothing happened
Robin Garbutt in a suit outside court (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)A former subpostmaster convicted of killing his wife with a hammer has applied for a fresh appeal
Robin Garbutt was handed a life sentence in April 2011 and ordered to serve at least 20 years for the murder of 40-year-old Diana Garbutt. At his trial Teesside Crown Court heard he brutally murdered Diana in their bedroom before opening their post office and shop in Melsonby, North Yorkshire, as if nothing had happened.
Garbutt's initial defence claimed that they were targeted in an armed robbery. But evidence from the Horizon IT system used by the Post Office played a crucial part in securing his conviction.
His legal representative, Martin Rackstraw of Russell-Cooke solicitors, said: "We believe that fresh evidence and other important developments that have come to light since the original trial, now mean that Mr Garbutt's conviction is not safe."
At the time of the sentencing, presiding trial judge Mr Justice Openshaw dismissed Garbutt's account of the incident as a "ludicrous story from beginning to end".
The Criminal Cases Review Commission verified receipt of an application from Garbutt's lawyers to have the case reviewed once more by the Court of Appeal. A prior attempt to overturn his conviction in 2012 failed when three judges determined there were no grounds to question its validity.