Malcolm Webster, convicted of killing his wife Claire Morris, from Upchurch, in Aberdeenshire in 1994, to have his case reviewed
Published: 00:01, 05 November 2014
Updated: 10:09, 05 November 2014
A man found guilty of murdering his wife in a staged car crash is to have his case reviewed.
Malcolm Webster was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for murdering Claire Morris, from Upchurch.
Claire died in May 1994, on a remote road in Aberdeenshire, just eight months after marrying Webster.
At the time it was thought to be a tragic accident. But when it was revealed Webster’s second wife had almost died in a similar accident in 1999, with Webster at the wheel of the car, police reopened the case.
Webster was found guilty of Claire’s murder in 2001 and also convicted of staging a similar attempt to murder his second wife Felicity Drumm.
The former nurse has now applied for the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) to investigate his conviction and sentence.
The SCCRC will compile a report, which could take up to eight months, and will then decide if it feels the case should be referred back to the court.
Webster, originally from Surrey, lost an appeal against his conviction in December last year and dropped an appeal against his sentence in March this year.
The case was made into a television drama, The Widower, which aired on ITV1 earlier this year.
Claire, who was 32 when she died, was played by BAFTA-award winning actor Sheridan Smith.
At the time, Claire’s brother Peter Morris, of Kingswood Drive, Gillingham, said he was not surprised ITV was making the three-part series about Webster.
Mr Morris, who worked with the show's producers, added: “It is an extraordinary story.”
The role of SCCRC is to review and investigate cases where it is alleged that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred in relation to conviction, sentence or both.
The Commission can only review and investigate cases where the conviction and sentence were imposed by a Scottish Court and when the appeal process has been exhausted.
After the review has been completed, the Commission will decide whether or not the case should be referred to the High Court.
If it is decided to refer a case, the case will be heard and determined by the High Court as if it were a normal appeal.
Stories you might have missed
Revealed: Celebrity to be burned at the stake
Four quizzed after officer hurt in police chase crash
More by this author
Jenni Horn