Webster’s headstone removed from grave of ‘dear wife’ he murdered

THE headstone of a woman murdered by her husband in a staged car crash has been removed following calls from her grieving family.

Malcolm Webster, 52, was handed a life sentence earlier this year for killing Claire Morris, 32, in the planned crash in Aberdeenshire in 1994.

He was also convicted of trying to kill his second wife Felicity Drumm in 1999 in New Zealand.

Webster has refused requests to give up ownership of the grave, but Aberdeenshire Council has now removed the headstone which includes her married name and the words “my dear wife”.

The council said it had been in discussions with the family’s lawyer over the past few months following Webster’s conviction in May.

Karen Wiles, head of legal and governance at the authority, said: “We appreciate the strong feelings of Ms Morris’s family and the wider public mood about this issue.

“Having considered very carefully all the legal implications we believe that, given Mr Webster’s criminal conviction, it is appropriate for us to remove the headstone and place it in secure storage. We have written to Mr Webster’s lawyer asking him to relinquish his position as lairholder and have received a response declining this request.

“We will be writing once again to advise them of the action we have now taken.”

She added: “We are keen to alleviate any further distress to the Morris family but it is entirely appropriate that we consider our position very carefully before taking any action.”

The Morris family has been advised and represented by the Aberdeen Law Project in relation to the legal issues surrounding the ownership of the lair.

The project is run by law students at the University of Aberdeen. Ryan Whelan, the project founder, has been the student advising the Morris family. He said: “The Morris family and I are delighted that the council has acted to remove the headstone.

“Given that Malcolm Webster was convicted of murdering Claire Morris, the gravestone that was in situ was a desecration of Claire’s grave in the mind of all sensible persons.

“It is right and proper that it has now been removed by Aberdeenshire Council.”

He said the action is a “pragmatic solution to a complex legal matter”.

“The council are to be commended for engaging with us to identify and implement this solution, and we look forward to continuing to work with them in resolving other matters,” he said.

Webster, a qualified nurse from Guildford, Surrey, fraudulently claimed more than £200,000 from insurance policies following Ms Morris’s death, spending the money on a Range Rover car, a yacht and on seducing a string of women.

Five years later, he tried to murder Ms Drumm, now 50, in a copycat car crash in New Zealand in an attempt to claim more than £750,000 of insurance money.

On a trip to the bank in 1999, Webster veered across two motorway lanes at high speed before leaving the carriageway in an attempt to kill her. Ms Drumm was not injured in the crash.

Webster was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years behind bars at the High Court in Edinburgh in July. Judge Lord Bannatyne said Webster was “a danger to women”.