THE mother of a sub-postmaster brutally murdered by her own husband has blasted him for exploiting the Horizon scandal to try and overturn his conviction.
Robin Garbutt, 57, was jailed for life in 2011 for battering wife Diana, 40, to death in their home above the post office.
He told police that a masked gunman stormed in just as Post Office headquarters was remotely unlocking the safe.
Garbutt claimed the raider threatened him and said his wife was being held hostage in their upstairs flat in Melsonby, North Yorkshire.
The alleged raider fled with £16,000 and he ran upstairs to discover Diana had been beaten to death.
Cops quickly picked holes in his story and he was accused of making it up to cover up money he had stolen to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Garbutt unleashed his fatal attack when he feared Diana was having an affair and was about to uncover the thousands of pounds he'd taken from the Post Office, it was said.
He was convicted of murder by a jury at Teesside crown court and ordered to serve a minimum 20-year sentence.
But Garbutt continued to protest his innocence but the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has knocked back his appeals three times.
But Diana’s grieving mum Agnes Gaylor, 73, has accused him of exploiting the move to overturn the conviction of 700 postmasters who were wrongly accused of theft.
She said: “He uses any opportunity to keep pleading his innocence and now he’s trying to use the Horizon scandal to his advantage.
“The appeal court has already ruled that Horizon played no part in Diana’s murder but he’s prepared to try anything to keep this thing going.
“I try not to think about him if I possibly can and on some days I manage that but it’s difficult when he’s done everything he can to stay in the spotlight since the trial."
Agnes continued: “One of the worst aspects of this is that it prevents me from getting back Diana’s belongings back from the police.
“They are sitting in a police station somewhere and have been for 14 years but while he keeps up this constant effort to get to the appeal court they won’t return anything that could be needed as evidence.
“He has nothing new to offer, no new evidence and this campaign of his is going nowhere.
"The fact he’s trying to use the Horizon case to go back to the CCRC shows how desperate he’s become.”
His supporters are now hoping that the public outcry which followed the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office could lead to him being freed.
But there were a number of holes in Garbutt's claim of being robbed which led the jury to convict him.
There were just 73 seconds between the safe opening when he said the raider burst into the Post Office and him making a 999 call.
That was not enough time, police reckoned, for him to be threatened by the raider, the money to be stolen, him to head upstairs, find his wife and call 999.
And police were unable to find a single witness who saw someone suspicious entering the post office.
The dodgy Horizon IT system led to what has been described as the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British history.
Hundreds of postmasters were accused of theft and false accounting when bugs in the system threw up false shortfalls in their accounts.
More than 700 were convicted with only 93 so far being cleared.
But the last time the CCRC rejected Garbutt’s application to go to the Court of Appeal it said: “Figures from the Horizon system were not essential to his conviction for murder."
Mr Justice Openshaw sentenced Garbutt to life in prison after hearing the same "ludicrous story from beginning to end".
He said: "There was no struggle, she never awoke.
"He struck three savage blows, smashing her skull and causing her immediate death as clearly he intended."
If a constituent pleaded not guilty, they may appeal to the Crown Court against a magistrates’ court conviction, sentence or both.
Generally, if they pleaded guilty, they can only appeal against a magistrates’ court sentence.
A constituent may appeal against a Crown Court conviction, sentence or both - it does not matter if they pleaded guilty or not guilty
You do not need a legal representative to apply to appeal.
However, you must apply for permission to appeal within 28 days of:
It may be possible to get an extension for a late application.
The is the independent public body set up to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The constituent should normally try to appeal through the court in the usual way before applying to the CCRC.
Further information on this is available on the .
If you win your appeal, your conviction may be overturned or your sentence may be reduced.
However, if you are unsuccessful, your original sentence or conviction will not change. You cannot appeal again.
Contact the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) if you think there’s been a ‘miscarriage of justice’, for example if evidence was not presented.
