Policeman 'uneasy' about fatal car blaze

A TRAFFIC policeman was so concerned about a car crash in which a nurse burned to death that he investigated in his spare time, a court was told yesterday.

Chief Inspector Ian Wallace, 46, was giving evidence at the trial of Malcolm Webster, 51, who denies murdering his first wife, nurse Claire Webster, 32, by drugging her, crashing his car and setting it on fire.

Chief Insp Wallace, who was a constable in the traffic department in Aberdeen in May 1994, examined Webster's Diahatsu Sportrak after the accident, on the Auchenhuive to Tarves road in Aberdeenshire.

He said what he discovered made him "uneasy" and added: "I mulled over it for some time. I was unhappy with the circumstances. I returned to the scene with my colleague Ronald McLaren to see if we could determine what happened."

Chief Insp Wallace said he went back a couple of times with his colleague and added: "I also returned to the scene when off-duty, such was my unease with what I had seen."

He was asked by Derek Ogg, QC, prosecuting: "This was to see if you could find answers. Did you see anything at the scene that helped you?" and he replied: "No."

The court also heard that Chief Insp Wallace spoke to an inspector in Inverurie about his concerns and also to his supervisor in the traffic department.

The trial at the High Court in Glasgow continues.