Latest news with #Garbutt
Daily Mirror
15-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Horizon victims join killer postmaster's demands for appeal over wife's murder
Robin Garbutt, 59, had debts of £30,000 on six credit cards and was said to be stealing money from his Post Office branch to pay for an 'extravagant lifestyle' A postmaster who was jailed for murdering his wife is being supported in an appeal against his conviction by three victims of the Horizon scandal. Robin Garbutt, 59, had debts of £30,000 on six credit cards and was said to be stealing money from his Post Office branch to pay for an 'extravagant lifestyle'. He was found guilty of bludgeoning his wife Diana, 40, to death with a metal bar in March 2010 in a faked armed robbery to cover up a fraud. But his legal team say the Horizon scandal – in which 900 subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting – has cast doubt on the motive used to jail him. Horizon victims Lee Castleton, Janet Skinner and Seema Davindra have backed his appeal. Jane Metcalfe, a friend of Garbutt, said: 'They felt very strongly that they wanted to be part of the campaign.' Garbutt said: 'I am simply asking the Criminal Cases Review Commission to look at my case with all the Post Office evidence removed. It has been proved that their evidence in hundreds of other convictions was false, so that should be a consideration in my case.' The Mirror has seen a dossier of new evidence about his conviction. It states that Garbutt served 78 customers between 4.30am and 8.30am, when he said the robbery took place in Melsonby, North Yorks. His legal team say that would have left no time for him to get upstairs, murder Diana and get rid of his clothing and the murder weapon. Witnesses and customers said he was completely normal from 4.30am to 8.30am, before he found her. In Garbutt's last rejected appeal application, the CCRC said the time between the safe opening and the 999 call was 73 seconds – not enough time for a robbery to have taken place. A clump of hair, visible on Diana's pillow in the scene-of-crime photos, is also key to his appeal. Those who knew Diana, who had a background in the Army, say she would have resisted an attacker and could have pulled their hair out. But the hair could not form part of the trial as it had been lost. Garbutt's sister, Sallie Wood, said: 'It was a light-brown clump. It was not Di's colour and Robin's hair is grey, so it was definitely neither of theirs. ' The CCRC confirmed an application for an appeal had been received and a review was under way. Mrs Garbutt's mother, Agnes Gaylor, said of the campaign: 'It's obvious to anyone Robin is taking advantage of the Horizon scandal to gain publicity. I don't believe he's going to get away with it.' North Yorkshire Police declined to comment on the dossier. A spokesman said they had nothing to add to the facts set out in court, which resulted in Garbutt being sentenced to life.
The Advertiser
13-05-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Update: South Newcastle postpones Kurri Kurri clash
Update: South Newcastle has postponed Saturday's game against Kurri Kurri Bulldog until Saturday, May 17. Kurri Kurri welcomes back key recruits Mitch Garbutt, Connagh Takairangi and Kye Hopwood for their round four clash against South Newcastle at Townson Oval on Saturday. Bulldogs coach Paul Stringer said the Bulldogs would be at full strength after having the bye over the Anzac Day weekend. "Mitch should get a clearance on Tuesday. Kye Hopwood got the plaster off his arm on Monday and should be right," Stringer said. "Connagh Takairangi had his foot in the boot and he'll be right to play. "We'll have the full complement of players. We play South Newcastle at Merewether. They had a two-point loss against Maitland and it will be a tough game." Takairangi and Garbutt both missed the 34-6 round two loss against Lakes United, while Hopwood will be lining up for his first game since joining the Bulldogs. Garbutt lasted just 20 minutes in the Bulldogs drought-breaking win against Northern Hawks in round one. Takairangi who played the rest of the match after coming on to replace Garbutt was among the team's best. "We were a bit short on troops against Lakes. We had a few out injured and I gave a couple of local kids a run, we competed very well in the first half," he said. "It was like 10-6 at half-time, and then we completed at just 60 per cent in the second half and gave them too much cheap footy. "I think we had 10 penalties for the game, so when you hand over so much footy to them our defence broke and they scored four late tries against us." Stringer said going forward the team needed to adopt its game to maximise the strength of their forward pack. "We've got to play teams down the middle and move them from either side of the goal posts," he said. "We've got to pass the footy a lot more rather than just one-out runs." "The halve are very good, and the forwards are all good with the football as well. They are skilful. We need to move the ball and play eyes up football." Update: South Newcastle has postponed Saturday's game against Kurri Kurri Bulldog until Saturday, May 17. Kurri Kurri welcomes back key recruits Mitch Garbutt, Connagh Takairangi and Kye Hopwood for their round four clash against South Newcastle at Townson Oval on Saturday. Bulldogs coach Paul Stringer said the Bulldogs would be at full strength after having the bye over the Anzac Day weekend. "Mitch should get a clearance on Tuesday. Kye Hopwood got the plaster off his arm on Monday and should be right," Stringer said. "Connagh Takairangi had his foot in the boot and he'll be right to play. "We'll have the full complement of players. We play South Newcastle at Merewether. They had a two-point loss against Maitland and it will be a tough game." Takairangi and Garbutt both missed the 34-6 round two loss against Lakes United, while Hopwood will be lining up for his first game since joining the Bulldogs. Garbutt lasted just 20 minutes in the Bulldogs drought-breaking win against Northern Hawks in round one. Takairangi who played the rest of the match after coming on to replace Garbutt was among the team's best. "We were a bit short on troops against Lakes. We had a few out injured and I gave a couple of local kids a run, we competed very well in the first half," he said. "It was like 10-6 at half-time, and then we completed at just 60 per cent in the second half and gave them too much cheap footy. "I think we had 10 penalties for the game, so when you hand over so much footy to them our defence broke and they scored four late tries against us." Stringer said going forward the team needed to adopt its game to maximise the strength of their forward pack. "We've got to play teams down the middle and move them from either side of the goal posts," he said. "We've got to pass the footy a lot more rather than just one-out runs." "The halve are very good, and the forwards are all good with the football as well. They are skilful. We need to move the ball and play eyes up football." Update: South Newcastle has postponed Saturday's game against Kurri Kurri Bulldog until Saturday, May 17. Kurri Kurri welcomes back key recruits Mitch Garbutt, Connagh Takairangi and Kye Hopwood for their round four clash against South Newcastle at Townson Oval on Saturday. Bulldogs coach Paul Stringer said the Bulldogs would be at full strength after having the bye over the Anzac Day weekend. "Mitch should get a clearance on Tuesday. Kye Hopwood got the plaster off his arm on Monday and should be right," Stringer said. "Connagh Takairangi had his foot in the boot and he'll be right to play. "We'll have the full complement of players. We play South Newcastle at Merewether. They had a two-point loss against Maitland and it will be a tough game." Takairangi and Garbutt both missed the 34-6 round two loss against Lakes United, while Hopwood will be lining up for his first game since joining the Bulldogs. Garbutt lasted just 20 minutes in the Bulldogs drought-breaking win against Northern Hawks in round one. Takairangi who played the rest of the match after coming on to replace Garbutt was among the team's best. "We were a bit short on troops against Lakes. We had a few out injured and I gave a couple of local kids a run, we competed very well in the first half," he said. "It was like 10-6 at half-time, and then we completed at just 60 per cent in the second half and gave them too much cheap footy. "I think we had 10 penalties for the game, so when you hand over so much footy to them our defence broke and they scored four late tries against us." Stringer said going forward the team needed to adopt its game to maximise the strength of their forward pack. "We've got to play teams down the middle and move them from either side of the goal posts," he said. "We've got to pass the footy a lot more rather than just one-out runs." "The halve are very good, and the forwards are all good with the football as well. They are skilful. We need to move the ball and play eyes up football." Update: South Newcastle has postponed Saturday's game against Kurri Kurri Bulldog until Saturday, May 17. Kurri Kurri welcomes back key recruits Mitch Garbutt, Connagh Takairangi and Kye Hopwood for their round four clash against South Newcastle at Townson Oval on Saturday. Bulldogs coach Paul Stringer said the Bulldogs would be at full strength after having the bye over the Anzac Day weekend. "Mitch should get a clearance on Tuesday. Kye Hopwood got the plaster off his arm on Monday and should be right," Stringer said. "Connagh Takairangi had his foot in the boot and he'll be right to play. "We'll have the full complement of players. We play South Newcastle at Merewether. They had a two-point loss against Maitland and it will be a tough game." Takairangi and Garbutt both missed the 34-6 round two loss against Lakes United, while Hopwood will be lining up for his first game since joining the Bulldogs. Garbutt lasted just 20 minutes in the Bulldogs drought-breaking win against Northern Hawks in round one. Takairangi who played the rest of the match after coming on to replace Garbutt was among the team's best. "We were a bit short on troops against Lakes. We had a few out injured and I gave a couple of local kids a run, we competed very well in the first half," he said. "It was like 10-6 at half-time, and then we completed at just 60 per cent in the second half and gave them too much cheap footy. "I think we had 10 penalties for the game, so when you hand over so much footy to them our defence broke and they scored four late tries against us." Stringer said going forward the team needed to adopt its game to maximise the strength of their forward pack. "We've got to play teams down the middle and move them from either side of the goal posts," he said. "We've got to pass the footy a lot more rather than just one-out runs." "The halve are very good, and the forwards are all good with the football as well. They are skilful. We need to move the ball and play eyes up football."
BBC News
14-04-2025
- BBC News
Father who took seven-year-old son to Manvers hotel riot jailed
A father who took his seven-year-old son to a riot at a hotel housing asylum seekers has been Garbutt, 41, was seen with they boy on his shoulders outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August when major violence broke Crown Court was also shown footage of Garbutt, of Kingsbrook Chase, Rotherham, pushing two supermarket trolleys into a fast-moving police car in the nearby Aldi car him for two years and four months earlier, the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told the defendant he was "a dreadful example" to his son and should be "comprehensively ashamed". Father-of-three Garbutt, who had 18 previous convictions for various offences such as drug trafficking, harassment, assault and driving while over the prescribed limit, had previously pleaded guilty to violent was also issued with a 10-year criminal behaviour order during the court heard Garbutt, a sales manager who lived near the hotel, came across the disorder while on a day out with the youngster and decided to stay. Footage showed the pair walking through an increasingly volatile crowd and taking turns filming the scene with Garbutt's mobile around 13:45 BST, Garbutt and the boy were seen in the Aldi supermarket car park, located near to the hotel, where Garbutt grabbed hold of two supermarket trolleys and pushed them into an oncoming police other clips, Garbutt could be seen bare-chested shortly before a fire was started in front of the hotel's emergency exit, which prevented those inside from Richardson accepted while Garbutt was "well to the fore" he was there as a "supporter, egging others on" and only actively participated in the disorder in one Richardson told him: "Unquestionably the most serious aggravating feature of this case is the fact that at all material times you had your seven-year-old son with you. "At any stage of various incidents you could and should have removed not only yourself but most certainly your son."Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
24-03-2025
- BBC News
Four jailed after £1m worth of cannabis found hidden in candles
Four men who hid cannabis with a street value of £1m in pots disguised as candles have been 182kg of cannabis resin was seized by Border Force officers at Tilbury Docks in Essex, on 17 April 2023, Merseyside Police pots - disguised as Citronella candles - had been imported from Malaga, Spain, and were destined for business premises in Bootle, Insp Paul McVeigh said the case showed how cannabis was a "drug with concrete links to serious, organised crime". The four men, from Merseyside and West Yorkshire, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Hannah, 56, of Liverpool Road, Lydiate on Merseyside, was sentenced to four years and three months after he pleaded Garbutt, 64, of Middleton Park Road, Leeds, was jailed for six years, while Raja Hamid Ali, 39, of Thornbury Ave, Bradford, was sentenced to five years and six Ali, 28, of Kenley Mount, Bradford, was also sentenced to four Insp McVeigh said: "The quantities of drugs being imported were significant and the group stood to make a great deal of money from selling it on the streets of Merseyside via other criminals."This is yet another example where cannabis is proven to be a drug with concrete links to serious organised crime, and in fact is not a harmless drug at all." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
