Witness claims to have seen husband at crash scene

A FORMER dairy manager has told a court that he saw murder accused Malcolm Webster near the spot where his wife burned to death, 11 days before the fatal crash. The High Court in Glasgow yesterday heard Ian Hardie came forward after recognising Webster from TV coverage.

Mr Hardie was giving evidence at the trial of Webster, 51, who denies murdering his first wife 32-year-old Claire by drugging her with Temazepam, crashing his car on the Auchenhuive to Tarves Road in Aberdeenshire on 27 or 28 May, 1994, and setting it on fire.

Mr Hardie told the court that he saw Webster in a field across from where the crash took place. Webster also denies trying to kill his second Felicity Drumm in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1999 to claim life insurance. He also denies forming a fraudulent scheme for a bigamous marriage with lover Simone Banerjee to get access to her estate.

The trial continues.