Firefighter's death blaze report was his first

THE fireman who carried out a probe into the death of a nurse in a fireball car crash had never been involved in a similar investigation before, a court was told yesterday.

Retired fireman Michael Maloney, 58, was giving evidence at the trial of Malcolm Webster, 51, who denies murdering his first wife Claire by drugging her with Temazepam, crashing his car on the Auchenhuive to Tarves Road, Kingoodie, Aberdeenshire, on 27 or 28 May 1994, and setting it on fire.

Mr Maloney, who retired with the rank of assistant divisional officer, told the High Court in Glasgow that in 1994 he was asked to produce a report into the fire in which 32-year-old Claire died.

Under questioning by advocate depute Derek Ogg QC, prosecuting, Mr Maloney said it was the first time he had investigated a fatal fire car crash and the first time he had reported on one.

The jury heard that Mr Maloney arrived at the crash scene after the fire had been put out and examined Webster's Diahatsu Sportrak there. He told Mr Ogg that he had not examined the car after it was taken to a garage in Inverurie.

In his report he said that in his opinion the cause of the blaze was petrol leaking into the engine manifold and igniting.

Mr Ogg then said: "We may hear evidence from experts which discounts the fire being caused by petrol going on the engine manifold. Do you still maintain that is the likeliest cause of it?"

Mr Maloney replied: "Yes."

He wrote added in his report: "I was told the passenger was in a prone position because she had been on a long journey and that's why there were petrol cans in the car."

Webster also denies trying to kill his second wife, Felicity Drumm, in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1999 to cash in on their life insurance

He is also alleged to have formed a fraudulent scheme between 2004 and 2008 to enter into a bigamous marriage with lover Simone Banerjee to get access to her estate. Webster denies all charges. The trial continues.