Postmaster ‘killer’ was in debt hell ~ Debt Managements and Consolidation

Robin Garbutt, the sub-postmaster who allegedly murdered his wife, was facing escalating debt problems at the time of her death.

A jury heard last week that despite earning less than £20,000 in 2009/10, Garbutt, 45, and his wife Diana went on a string of luxury breaks, according to the Northern Echo.Teesside Crown Court heard last Thursday that in July 2009 the couple spent £1,206 on a four-night stay at The Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire.They went back the following month for a three-night break at a cost of £844.On the ninth day of Garbutt’s trial, DC Karen Barugh, from Richmond CID, told the court that the couple went on five other breaks together in 2009, despite spiralling debts.The couple were due to go on a £3,000 three-week trip to the US the week after Diana was murdered.Teresa Bentley, North Yorkshire Police financial investigator, told the court that Garbutt had six credit cards, all with large and increasing balances, as well as a HSBC account that was constantly overdrawn.The account for the store at The Village Shop and Post Office, in Melsonby, was also always overdrawn, while a third joint account had a balance of about £6,000.Mrs Bentley said: “On all the credit cards, they weren’t in arrears, regular payments were being made. However, it was only the minimum monthly payment.”The jury was told that the shop had a turnover of about £207,000 in 2009-10, yet made a profit of only £4,124.Despite Diana’s modest sub-postmistress salary of £14,500, cash payments totalling more than £17,000 were made to the couple’s accounts in the four months before the murder, Mrs Bentley said.The court heard that the couple bought the post office and shop for £153,000 in May 2003, but the business was put back on the market in 2006 for £450,000.Mrs Bentley agreed that the couple’s assets outstripped their debts while being cross-examined by Jamie Hill, defending.Garbutt denies beating his wife to death on March 23 last year and then blaming the attack on an armed robber.
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