Murder inquiry launched after Yorkshire post office owner found dead

The owner of a rural post office has been found dead with severe head injuries after an armed robbery at her shop, police said today. Shortly before the body of Diane Garbutt was discovered in the upstairs flat of the post office and village store in Melsonby, near Richmond, Yorkshire, a robber had confronted her husband, Robin, and told him: "We've got your wife". He demanded cash. North Yorkshire police said 40-year-old Garbutt died from severe head injuries. The force, which has launched a murder investigation, said she had not been shot. Detective Superintendent Lewis Raw told reporters it was possible that the incident was connected to another armed robbery at the same post office almost exactly a year ago. Garbutt's husband opened the shop part of the business at around 4.30am yesterday as usual, leaving her upstairs, Raw said. When he opened the post office counter at 8.30am, a man wearing a black mask over his face and carrying a gun came into the shop from the upstairs flat and confronted him. "The man threatened Mr Garbutt, saying: 'We've got your wife,'" Raw said. He added that the robber had escaped with "a significant amount of money" in a black holdall. Police are appealing for anyone who was in Melsonby between 4am and 9am yesterday to get in touch if they saw anything suspicious. "This is a shocking crime, which has left Mr Garbutt distraught and the residents of Melsonby very shocked and saddened," Raw said. People living and working around the post office said they did not notice anything unusual until an ambulance, followed by armed police officers, arrived. The store is at the heart of the small village, a few miles north of Richmond. Last March, two men, one armed with what appeared to be a handgun, threatened staff and escaped with stamps and a large amount of cash. People in the village said the Garbutts considered leaving the village after the raid and had put the business up for sale before recently deciding to stay. A nearby resident, who did not want to be named, said he thought the couple moved to the village from the York area around seven years ago. Linda Ling, who works part-time in the shop and lives in a nearby cottage said: "A lovely couple, just very devoted, that's all I can say. I feel very sorry for Robin, I don't know how he'll go on without her." She also said she had not seen or heard anything to signal a disturbance, adding: "I opened my curtains around 8.15am and saw the kids waiting for the bus, went to make my bed and then saw the ambulance." Bill Nixon, who owns Nixon's Garage, opposite the post office, said: "I had a contractor coming to see me. I told him to park his van across the road. "Then I had another customer, and within a few minutes I heard the ambulance come. I thought: 'That's strange.' Then all hell broke loose." Flowers were left outside the stone-built post office, which was cordoned off with police tape.