No grounds to refer murder case back to the Court of Appeal

Following a comprehensive review, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has concluded there is no real possibility that the Court of Appeal would overturn Robin Garbutt’s murder conviction. 

Mr Garbutt was convicted of the murder of his wife, Diana Garbutt, after a jury trial at Teesside Crown Court on 19 April 2011. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years. 

The CCRC does not routinely comment on operational detail of its work. Due to the media interest in this case and the publicity about the Horizon scandal, the CCRC makes the following comments;

• Much of Mr Garbutt’s application to the CCRC focused on the Post Office Horizon scandal, which has led to a number of fraud and theft convictions of former Post Office workers being overturned, many after referral by the CCRC
• The CCRC decided that this argument could not assist Mr Garbutt, as figures from the Horizon system were not essential to his conviction for murder
• Other issues concerning scientific evidence were also considered, and the CCRC has now made a final decision not to refer his case for an appeal.  

The findings of the CCRC’s detailed review have been shared in the usual way with the applicant through a 50 page Statement of Reasons which explains why the case has not been referred, dealing thoroughly with all the points raised by Mr Garbutt. 

Notes to editors

Only an applicant (or their legal representative) is permitted to share a CCRC Statement of Reasons with a third party.