A POLICE investigator from North Yorkshire has been short-listed for a prestigious award for her work in helping convict a shopkeeper who bludgeoned his postmistress wife to death.

Teresa Bentley, of the force’s financial investigation unit, has been shortlisted in the Individual Award category in the Keith Hughes Awards for Excellence in Financial Investigation 2011, for her painstaking work which helped to convict Robin Garbutt of the murder of his wife, Diana.

On the morning of March 23, 2010, police received reports of an alleged robbery and murder at the village Post Office in Melsonby.

Ms Bentley was assigned to the case after it became apparent that the Garbutts’ financial background was an integral element of the investigation.

It centred on the business and personal accounts of the couple and the alleged robbery which Garbutt claimed had taken place.

Ms Bentley’s work helped support the prosecution case against Garbutt to show that a robbery had not actually taken place but was in fact an elaborate cover-up. He was later convicted and told he must serve a minimum of 20 years.

Miss Bentley will find out if she is the overall winner at a ceremony on February 27.