Pregnant wife confronted murder accused over 'spiked' food, jury told

A WOMAN whose estranged husband is accused of attempting to murder her has told the court she asked him if he was spiking her food when she was pregnant because it tasted bitter.

Felicity Drumm was giving evidence for a second day at the trial of Malcolm Webster, who denies trying to kill her by drugging her and by staging a car crash. He also denies murdering his first wife, Claire Webster, in a fireball car crash in Aberdeenshire in 1994.

Miss Drumm told prosecutor Derek Ogg, QC, that after she and Webster moved to Scotland in 1997 she suffered a number of incidents when she felt unwell, unsteady on her feet and slept for long periods.

On Thursday, the High Court in Glasgow heard that Miss Drumm suffered three similar episodes during their honeymoon in New Zealand that year.

Miss Drumm said the food he served her was "acrid and bitter" and made her feel drunk.

"I had a few episodes following finding out I was pregnant," she said. The jury was told the food he prepared always contained strong flavours and he used garlic when cooking.

Mr Ogg asked: "Is this all with hindsight, or is this something you noticed at the time?" Miss Drumm replied: "It was something I mentioned at the time."

She said when she asked Webster if he was putting something in her food, he broke down, saying their marriage would be in trouble if she thought he could do something like that.

She said Webster's reaction to these incidents was that it was just "one of her episodes", and he claimed it was because she was tired and run-down.

Referring to the meals that Webster cooked for her, Miss Drumm told the court: "He would always insist I ate it all, because I was pregnant and needed to maintain my nutrition."

The court heard that Miss Drumm went to her GP and tests were carried out, but more extensive tests were not possible because she was pregnant.

The court heard Miss Drumm had her baby and began breastfeeding him. She said Webster pressured her to stop breastfeeding as the baby had developed a rash and was irritable.

The jury heard that some weeks after they arrived in Aberdeen their home at Easter Letter Cottage in Aberdeenshire caught fire.

The living-room was gutted and the rest of the house smoke-damaged.

She said her handbag, which contained her New Zealand driving licence, money and papers, had been in the living-room and disappeared. Many months later she spotted her licence in Webster's study.

The court heard that the couple decided to leave for New Zealand in 1998 and put all their possessions into storage apart from a suitcase of clothes.The warehouse where their items were stored went up in a blaze.

Miss Drum said that Webster was very calm about this, until he realised a bag he had taken from the warehouse the night before the fire did not contain papers relating to his family history as he thought, but other items.

The court also heard a fire broke out in the living-room of Miss Drumm's parents' home in the early hours as they all slept.

The jury was also told there was a fire at the house the couple intended to buy.

Webster denies two charges of trying to murder Miss Drumm. He also denies forming a fraudulent scheme to cash in on her life insurance policies and inducing her to make a will leaving her estate to him.

The trial continues.