Car fire 'probably deliberate'

THE trial of a man accused of murdering his wife in a car crash heard that a fire in the vehicle was probably started deliberately.

Claire Morris, 32, died when the vehicle crashed and caught fire in Aberdeenshire in May 1994.

Her husband Malcolm Webster, 51, from Guildford, Surrey, is accused of murdering her by drugging her, driving the car off the road and starting the blaze. He denies murdering her to cash in more than 200,000 in insurance policies.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that an expert who investigated the fire at the time concluded there was no evidence of foul play, but forensics specialist Andrew Wade, who recently reassessed the evidence, said the fire was probably deliberate.

The trial continues.