Man Who Stages Car Accidents to Kill Wives For Insurance Money to Further Appeal Sentence

A man who deliberately staged a car crash in Aberdeenshire to kill his wife, and attempted to do the same to his second wife has appealed against the life sentence given to him.

Malcolm Webster was imprisoned in May 2011 following a five month trial  for the crimes. Mr Webster was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Claire Morris in 1994 killed in a car accident set up by Webster, and for the attempted murder by staged car accident, of Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1999.

It was determined that this was to claim insurance money.

Webster appealed his conviction last year in the Edinburgh Criminal Appeal Court, however the appeal was not upheld. Mr Webster claimed in his appeal that had suffered a miscarriage of justice, however this argument was rejected by the court. Consequently, Mr Webster has requested that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) investigate his his case and the sentence handed down to him.

The role of the SCCRC is to review cases where it is alleged that a miscarriage of justice concerning a conviction, a sentence, or has taken place. The body independently reviews cases before deciding whether they should be referred to the high court.

Webster claims that Ms Morris’ death was not intentional and that the accident occurred as a result of Mr Webster swerving to avoid a motorcyclist on the road. However, it was revealed to the jury that Webster had in fact drugged Ms Morris and set the vehicle on fire while she remained unconscious inside the vehicle resulting in her death.

Furthermore, Mr Webster claimed £200,000 from insurance policies which he extravagantly spent on a yacht, a Range Rover and entertaining various women. Following this, he attempted to create a similar accident with the intent of murdering Ms Drumm in New Zealand – had his attempt been successful he could have claimed up to £750,000 in insurance policies.

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