It is marketed as a characterful village home, complete with beamed ceilings, cast-iron fireplaces and a stylish open-plan kitchen – ticking all the boxes for rural living.
But a former Post Office listed for sale on property website Rightmove comes with a chilling footnote buried among the particulars.
Estate agents warn bluntly: ‘A crime was committed at this property’.
The four-bedroom end-of-terrace house sits in the centre of Melsonby, North Yorks, where The Village Shop and Post Office once stood at the centre of daily life.
In March 2010, that same building became the scene of a killing that sent shockwaves through the close-knit community and would later become one of Britain’s most controversial murder cases.
Sub-postmistress Diana Garbutt, 40, was found brutally bludgeoned to death in her bed above the rural Post Office she ran with her husband, Robin.
He claimed she was killed by an armed robber who attacked Diana as she slept, before returning downstairs to demand £16,000 in cash from the time-locked safe.
Garbutt later told police the robber fled before the safe opened – and that only then did he go upstairs and discovered his wife’s lifeless body.
A former Post Office listed for sale on property website Rightmove comes with a chilling footnote buried among the particulars
Three weeks after his wife’s death, Robin was arrested for his wife Diana’s murder (Robin and Diana Garbutt pictured together)
Garbutt who was convicted at Teesside Crown Court denies the murder of Diana to this day
The Melsonby Post Office as it was when it was still operating in 2010 on the day Diana’s body was found
Yet, in 2011, he was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life – after a jury concluded he faked the robbery in a desperate attempt to cover mounting debts.
Fifteen years on, Garbutt, now 60, remains behind bars, still vehemently denying he killed Diana.
The case has since become deeply controversial due to its links to the Post Office Horizon scandal – one of the largest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
Prosecutors alleged Robin had debts of around £30,000 and had been stealing from the Post Office, a supposed motive for murder. Evidence from the Post Office’s Horizon accounting system was used to support that claim.
Since then, Horizon has been exposed as catastrophically flawed, leading to the wrongful prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters and mistresses.
Garbutt’s conviction, which has already survived three failed appeals, is now under renewed scrutiny following the Sky documentary Murder at the Post Office.
Despite being described as ‘brimming with character’, with generous living space, a self-contained office, workshop and parking for multiple cars, the property has lingered on the market for nearly two years.
The property, which has an asking price of £355,000, is marketed as a ‘highly regarded village location’.
Locals in Melsonby, a village of just 800 people, say its grisly history may be putting buyers off.
Pictures from inside the property show it to be a charming rural idyll perfect for long winter evenings
It would be hard to imagine a crime as grisly as the murder could occur here based on the warm pictures
One resident, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It’s a beautiful house and a lovely part of the world.
‘I guess it’s unnerving for some people to live in a house where someone has been violently killed. It’s not like you an erase the history.’
Another added bluntly: ‘If it hadn’t happened, [the house] would’ve sold ages ago.’
Villager Brian Bottler however claimed it was the price – rather than the grim history – that was the real issue.
He said: ‘My opinion on the house is that it’s overpriced and that’s the main reason it hasn’t sold.
‘It’s got no garden to it. It’s got a little bit at the front but nothing at the back. If it had a reasonable garden with it, then it’d probably be okay.
‘Maybe people have looked at it and have been put off by what’s gone on there. I’ve not been told in the village that that’s the case but I suppose it could put a few people off.
‘Really, it’s just a crying shame that it’s no longer a shop because it really was of great use.
‘Now we have to go to the next nearest village, which is about a ten-minute drive.
‘We don’t like to see empty houses, so it would be nice to see it occupied.’
The renewed attention from the documentary has also reignited public fascination and raised fears the property could attract true crime tourists.
On Reddit, users debated whether the property’s macabre past would put them off.
One wrote: ‘That’s a lovely village and a lovely building if you can get past what happened’.
‘I expect someone has died in most old houses, although probably not so violently’, said another, while a third commented: ‘I wouldn’t mind it, the ghosts won’t get you.
‘But now there’s a documentary you might get true crime tourists which would be more annoying.’
Robin and Diana Garbutt are pictured. Robin remains in jail, still denying he killed Diana
The Rightmove listing itself makes no reference to Diana Garbutt by name, nor to the ongoing controversy – only the blunt admission that a crime took place with ‘further details available upon request’.
Garbutt was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years and his legal team maintains he is wrongfully convicted.
Forensic evidence linked him to the murder, including the bloodied metal pole used as the weapon. A hair found on the bed matching neither Garbutt was not tested after the sample went missing.
Three appeals have failed, but a fourth application, citing faulty Horizon evidence, is now before the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
During the trial, prosecutors painted a picture of a marriage in turmoil. The couple had £30,000 in credit card debt, and Garbutt was aware Diana had been unfaithful.
Diana, who Garbutt claimed had a higher sex drive than him, was also looking online for men to date.
The couple had discussed splitting up and Garbutt had faced a future with no assets as what they had was in his wife’s name.
Mr Justice Openshaw said the killer’s version of events was a ‘ludicrous story from beginning to end’.
Passing sentence, he added: ‘He has always accompanied his lies with sanctimonious protests of his love for her.
‘By their verdict, the jury have exposed this as pure humbug.’
Diana’s mum Agnes Gaylor, 75, has previously accused Garbutt of exploiting the Horizon scandal.
She said last year: ‘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.’
