Wife killer needs to give headstone permission

Malcolm Webster was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering his wife in a staged crash in Aberdeenshire in 1994, but her family need his permission to change her headstone. Photo Iain McLellan/Spindrift

Relatives of a woman murdered by Briton Malcolm Webster have been told they need his permission to change her headstone, reports say.

Webster, 52, was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering Claire Morris, 32, in a staged crash in Aberdeenshire in 1994 for a life insurance payout.

He was also found guilty of attempting to kill Auckland nurse Felicity Drumm by drugging her at locations in New Zealand and Britain between July 1996 and February 1999, to the danger of her life and the wellbeing of her unborn child.

Ms Morris' brother Peter told BBC Scotland he wants to change a message on her gravestone in Aberdeenshire, which reads: "With loving thoughts of my dear wife Claire Webster".

The use of his sisters married name needed to be changed for the family to find closure, he said.

But he claimed Council rules were preventing him from ordering a new engraving, the BBC reported.

"We were told Malcolm Webster is still the lair holder and that we'd have to go to him and ask his permission.

"The local authority said they couldn't authorise it because Webster would then potentially have his human rights infringed, and could then sue them.

"We are struggling to bring closure."

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman told the BBC it needed permission from the owner of the lair to make changes to the gravestone.

"Changes made without authority from the owner could result in legal proceedings between the parties involved."

Webster is due to be sentenced on July 5.

His second wife Felicity Drumm has been described him as a "psychopath" who put her through a terrifying ordeal over a number of years.

She told TVNZ's Sunday that during their honeymoon in New Zealand and while they were living in the UK, Webster repeatedly drugged her food and drink, even when she was pregnant with their son.

Police in Scotland are also investigating claims linking Webster to suspicious deaths in an Abu Dhabi hospital, where he worked as a nurse.

Webster was at the hospital for six months before being fired after the three special-needs children, all under 6 years old, died of heart attacks while he was on duty.

Detectives in Aberdeen are considering the possibility that Webster experimented on the children to see how different drug doses would affect them.

- Herald Online