Attempted murder accused had petrol receipt - court

Felicity Drumm, left, told the High Court in Glasgow she found a petrol canister receipt in the briefcase of her husband Malcolm Webster, who is accused of trying to kill her. Photos / Supplied

A Briton accused of attempting to kill his New Zealand wife had a receipt for a petrol canister, a murder trial in Glasgow has heard.

The evidence is considered significant because Malcolm Webster is not only accused of trying to kill his second wife, Felicity Drumm, of Auckland, in a car crash, but also of murdering his first wife, Claire Morris - by setting fire to their car after a crash.

Webster, 51, of Guildford, Surrey, has denied the charges.

Ms Morris, 32, died in Aberdeenshire in 1994, while the charge involving Ms Drumm occurred in Auckland in 1999. The prosecution has claimed that on the death of Ms Drumm, Webster would have fraudulently received more than $1.9 million in life insurance money.

Webster also denies fraudulently obtaining more than £200,000 after cashing in insurance policies following Ms Morris' death.

Ms Drumm told the High Court in Glasgow she found the filling station receipt in his briefcase, the BBC reported.

Ms Drumm, who flew to Scotland to give evidence against her estranged husband in the High Court trial, said Webster had not told her about any purchases.

"Following Claire's death he told me he didn't carry petrol in the car," she said.

Prosecutor Derek Ogg, QC, asked: "When did he tell you he would never drive with a petrol can in the car?"

She replied: "He told me a number of times in Saudi (Arabia) and in Scotland."

Ms Drumm was shown an invoice for the petrol can and other items and, asked if she recognised the signature, she replied: "Yes, it's Malcolm's."

She was then asked where the invoice had come from and she said: "It came from the contents of Malcolm's briefcase."

The court was told Ms Drumm and her father had searched the briefcase on February, 18, 1999, because they believed her money had gone from the joint account she had with Webster.

Mr Ogg asked: "Do you know why anyone in your family would need a petrol can?"

Ms Drumm: "No."

Earlier, Ms Drumm said that when the couple was driving to the bank on an Auckland motorway, the car suddenly swerved across two lanes and then back across.

After it ended up in a ditch beside some trees, her husband got out the car straight away and popped open the boot, screaming at Ms Drumm to stay in the car.

When she insisted on still going to the bank, Webster faked a heart attack.

Later a petrol can and paper were found in the boot of the car.

When Ms Drumm eventually got to the bank, she found her savings had been cleaned out of a joint account and sent to Britain.

It is also alleged that Webster intended to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee, from Oban, Argyll, to gain access to her estate.

The trial, before judge Lord Bannatyne, continues.

- NZPA